The 40-year anniversary of Robert Kennedy's death

"Is there a doctor in the house? Would a doctor come right here?" Those were the words of David Steiner, a young Kennedy volunteer who grabbed the mike at the Ambassador Hotel as the charismatic politician lay on the ground, shot and bleeding. Steiner's life, as he explains in this haunting video, was never the same from that moment onward.

Please also see our (rapidly filling) RFK tribute page on Larry Harnisch's fine blog, The Daily Mirror, and Joe Mozingo's Column One on the assassination's lasting impact on young Kennedy supporters like David Steiner.

Also, a first-person account of the "stop-the-presses" moment as The Times got the news that Kennedy had been shot.

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo: AP

Comments

[Capo Annie]

Interestingly, Showtime last night broadcast Emilio Estevez' movie "Bobby," a movie which I think was underrated. I would assume it is in the movie rotation for a while and I recommend it.

[Ed Montan]

We were 19 years old, we were atheletes, we had finished playing some pick up basketball that evening. The five of us were going to be playing basketball at Glendale Community College the next year. I had invited them over to my parents house for soft-drinks (we were to young for beer then), and we got interested in the election results being televised that evening. The banter back and forth was loud and full of youthful male vigor. When the announcement was made on the TV that RFK had been shot it quieted our little get together in a flash. We could not believe what was happening. All of us had been old enough to be aware of the JFK assassination in '63; and now it was happening again. All these years later I am still haunted by Brother Chris's voice coming on our school intercom to first tell us that the President had been shot....then to tell us that the President was dead. I am also haunted by David Steiner's call for a doctor the evening of the RFK assassination. I guess that is one of the reasons I read and watch everything on the assassinations. It' like a void having been created by thse events, and nothing but truthful answers will fill it.

[Vincent Di Pierro]

After being with him for several days 40 years ago RFK asked me to come to the party after the election that night. Seconds after shaking his hand he was lying in my arms dying. My entire life change forever that night 40 yeats ago. I miss him dearly

[sally slaughter]

I was 13 living in Southern California close to the airport . It was so exciting to go to sleep knowing he was going to win the primary. The ring of our phone woke me up and I heard my mom answer.. and then her anquish... "oh no"... we stayed up the entire night .. crying and praying , hoping against hope Bobby would live and be alright. It was not to be.
We had just reeled from the loss of MLK-
Those were sad, horrible times and truly the loss of innocence ...
I cherish what his dream was and hope someday to have it back...Bobby was the real deal- didnt care because it was the politically correct thing to do.. he was so real...God bless his family

[Ron Barnette]

I don’t mean this to be an overly political comment, but I am reminded of a signed inscription in a book I have by Robert Kennedy, To Seek a Newer World, which I received in 1968 days before his untimely assassination and during my Irvine/Orange County Kennedy campaign work on his behalf. When I last met Robert Kennedy it was after his debate with Eugene McCarthy, who was also a solid candidate, after their debate in Los Angeles in June, 1968. RFK won the California primary on June 4…I remember it well, as he was ‘off to Chicago.’ It was the next day---June 5--- at the Ambassador Hotel in LA, after midnight, when we learned of his California victory, he was shot and killed, and I was there. You have no idea how the idealism was suppressed as the result, even going into the resulting critical Chicago Democratic Convention, which is legendary.

Many memories persist, especially with his words he wrote to me in the book I now have before me, if you allow me:

My Dear Mr. Barnette

I cannot express my appreciation for all the work you have done. “Our future may lie beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control.”

Sincerely,

Robert F. Kennedy

My life was changed as a result, and I have sought to make our world a better place ever since.
Ron Barnette, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy