California Democratic Party Chair Art Torres on the 40th Anniversary of the Death of Bobby Kennedy

By Art Torres
Chair
California Democratic Party

Forty years ago this week, Senator Bobby Kennedy won the California primary.

His last words to the cheering crowd were, ‘on to Chicago and let’s win there,’ and then we lost him.

After the funeral service in New York City, Bobby’s body was transported by train to Washington D.C., where tens of thousands of Americans lined the tracks to pay their respects.

Bobby Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, close to his brother John. Only a single cross and a small stone mark his gravesite.

This week is a time to think of his public service, his commitment to America and for all that Bobby dreamed of – dreams for which we still strive.

Sen. Edward Kennedy Eulogy to His Brother - June 1968 St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City

FromThe California Disability Community Action Network

Sen. Edward Kennedy gave a moving eulogy to his brother. His voice wavered with emotion, when he spoke of older brother Joe, who died in World War II, sister Kathleen who died in a plane crash in 1948, and JFK, who was assassinated just four and half years before:

"...We loved him as a brother and father and son. From his parents, and from his older brothers and sisters--Joe, Kathleen and Jack--he received inspiration which he passed on to all of us. He gave us strength in time of trouble, wisdom in time of uncertainty, and sharing in time of happiness. He was always by our side.

Love is not an easy feeling to put into words. Nor is loyalty, or trust or joy. But he was all of these. He loved life completely and lived it intensely...

He nearly lost his composure at the end of his eulogy, his voice breaking with grief when he spoke these final words of farewell:

My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life. To be remembered simply as a good and decent man: who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.

Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will someday come to pass for all the world.

As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him:

"Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not."

Go to CDCAN website at www.cdcan.us to listen to Edward Kennedy's entire eulogy.

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