Celebrity Deaths – Juan Romero

by Michael RichComment — Updated August 3, 2023

Celebrity Deaths - Juan Romero Photo
The following is a reprint of an NPR story June 1, 2018

The Busboy Who Cradled A Dying RFK Recalls Those Final Moments

Infamous photographs, taken seconds after Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was shot on June 5, 1968, show him lying on the floor of the Ambassador Hotel’s kitchen. A teenage busboy kneels beside him, cradling the senator’s head.

That busboy was Juan Romero.

Kennedy was running for president and had just won the California Democratic primary when he was assassinated at the Los Angeles hotel.

In an interview with StoryCorps, Romero, now 67, remembers meeting Kennedy the day before the assassination. He helped deliver Kennedy’s room service. It was the first of two brief encounters that left Romero struck by how present and considerate Bobby Kennedy appeared with guests.

The senator had been on the phone when Kennedy’s aides opened the door to receive him and his co-worker, Romero recalls. “He put down the phone and says, ‘Come on in, boys,’ ” Romero says. “You could tell when he was looking at you that he’s not looking through you — he’s taking you into account. And I remember walking out of there like I was 10 feet tall.”

The next day, Kennedy defeated Sen. Eugene McCarthy to win the Democratic primary. After giving his victory speech in the ballroom, Kennedy was led through the kitchen on his way to meet the press and he stopped to shake hands with some of the staff along the way.

“I remember extending my hand as far as I could, and then I remember him shaking my hand,” Romero says. “And as he let go, somebody shot him.”

His next actions are now immortalized in photos taken by journalists there for the victory speech.

“I kneeled down to him and I could see his lips moving, so I put my ear next to his lips and I heard him say, ‘Is everybody OK?’ I said, ‘Yes, everybody’s OK.’ I put my hand between the cold concrete and his head just to make him comfortable.”

“I could feel a steady stream of blood coming through my fingers,” Romero says. “I remember I had a rosary in my shirt pocket and I took it out, thinking that he would need it a lot more than me. I wrapped it around his right hand and then they wheeled him away.”

Thank you StoryCops for this article

Copyright © StoryCorps.
StoryCorps is a national nonprofit that gives people the chance to interview friends and loved ones about their lives. These conversations are archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, allowing participants to leave a legacy for future generations. Learn more, including how to interview someone in your life, at StoryCorps.org.

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