![]() "According to his daughter Elda, he was the happiest she had seen him in a while," Chacon added, noting the divorced Romero had recently met a woman who helped bring peace into his life.įor decades, each time Romero saw black-and-white news photos of himself - a baby-faced busboy gently cradling Kennedy as he lay sprawled on the hotel's concrete kitchen floor - he would wonder what more he should have done to save Kennedy. "Juan was a big, brawny guy, a muscular guy and seemingly in good health," said Chacon, adding his death came as a shock to family and friends. He worked in construction, including concrete and asphalt paving, enjoying the often-grueling physical labor with no intention of retiring any time soon. Millions Swelter as UK Endures Its 1st Extreme Heat Warning Romero, who moved from Los Angeles decades ago, spent most of his life in the Northern California cities of San Jose and Modesto, Chacon said. Romero died Monday in a Modesto, California, hospital following a heart attack, Rigo Chacon, a longtime family friend and former TV newsman, told The Associated Press on Thursday. Kennedy would die the next day and the teenage Mexican immigrant who had idolized him would carry the emotional burden of that encounter for most of his life. Romero had just grasped Kennedy's hand when gunshots rang out, one of them striking the senator in the head. It meant the 18-year-old busboy might get to shake hands with his hero - the man he'd assured himself would be the next president of the United States - for the second time in two days. Kennedy decided to duck through the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after declaring victory in the 1968 Democratic presidential primary, Juan Romero reveled at his good fortune. Born in a small town in Mexico, Romero moved with his family to East LA when he was 10.Romero is seen in a famous photo cradling the wounded Kennedy's head on the floor of the hotel kitchen.Kennedy was killed by an assassin at a Los Angeles hotel Juan Romero was a teenage busboy in June 1968 when Sen. ![]() Romero reached out, took Kennedy’s hand, and watched him slump to the floor as gun blasts echoed. He knew he’d never forget the way Kennedy treated him and the pride he felt, and now he wanted to congratulate him as the candidate made his way through a kitchen service area. He worked at the hotel after school and had delivered room service to Kennedy earlier in the week. On far too many nights he lay awake wondering if Kennedy would still be alive if he hadn’t paused to shake a busboy’s hand. Kennedy that hung alongside those of Pope John XXIII in the homes of Mexican families. Kennedy had won the California presidential primary and made his victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, where Romero was a 17-year-old busboy.Ī Roosevelt High School student who had moved north from Mexico at the age of 10, Romero recalled the photos of President John F. It happened just after midnight on June 5, 1968. ![]() ”I wanted to protect his head from the cold concrete.” “I always dreaded when June was coming up,” said Romero, 65, who has struggled for most of his adult life to let go of his crippling memory of an American tragedy. He celebrated his birthday, going out to dinner with his family in San Jose. In June, Juan Romero did something he hadn’t done in decades. The Senator stopped to shake his hand … VL ![]() It’s taken a lifetime for a young immigrant busboy to reconcile his part in the assassination of Robert Kennedy. *Thanks to Taquista Ito Romo for sending us this link.
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