"Kennedy's been shot."
Robert Francis Kennedy, who almost certainly would have become the 37th President of the United States, was assassinated 40 years ago today.
He actually passed away on June 6, which is the date most people associate with RFK's murder, but the deadly deed itself was committed just after midnight on June 5, 1968.
I wrote a little about Bobby's death in a post from this past January:
https://ashetlandpony.livejournal.com/17498.html
That wasn't the whole story, though. I was only 13 at the time, but I still vividly remember the terrible events of the first hour of June 5, 1968. I was already asleep when my mother opened my bedroom door, turned on the light and said simply, "Kennedy's been shot."
Both Mother and Father were staunch Republicans, but as we watched the reports about the shooting live on TV, I can't recall ever seeing either of them with such grim expressions. Mother fought back tears and Father just sat stone silent as we watched the chaos unfold. I could tell they were both very moved. I knew they didn't like any of the Kennedy brothers' politics, but this act was such a sickening and unmitigated outrage against everything this country stood for that they set aside all partisan feelings, and together, in solemn sadness, we watched the course of history change forever before our very eyes.
President Kennedy's assassination in 1963 had shocked and saddened the nation and the world at the time, but it really wasn't until first Martin Luther King, Jr. and then Bobby Kennedy were gunned down in 1968 that people truly began to despair for our country. Even those who opposed RFK, like my parents, saw that Bobby was a genuine beacon of hope for many, and to see that hope so violently and wrongfully snuffed out, well, it affected everyone deeply.
I recall going to church on the following Sunday, 3 days after Bobby died, and hearing several of the congregants sobbing openly. Even the priest broke down as he tried to console us during the sermon. Really, unless you were there at the time, you can't even imagine the depth of the sorrow people felt back then. It was much more than sorrow, actually. It was outright anguish.
It's been 40 years, but I'm shedding tears again right now as if it just happened yesterday. It truly was the kind of tragedy that no one with a shred of humanity could fail to be moved by, or ever forget...