The photographer and the busboy

Retropod

The Washington Post

History, Kids & Family, Education For Kids

4.5 • 670 Ratings

🗓️ 16 October 2018

⏱️ 5 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Photographer Boris Yaro shot the photo of Bobby Kennedy lying fatally wounded in the arms of Juan Romero, a busboy. The photo would haunt both of them.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, history lovers. I'm Mike Rosenwald with Retropod, a show about the past, rediscovered.
0:07.8	On the evening of June 4th, 1968, Los Angeles Times photographer Boris Yarrow was relaxing at home after a long day at work.
0:18.9	It was presidential primary day in California,
0:22.6	the kind of stuff journalists live for.
0:26.7	Turning on the TV news,
0:28.6	Yarrow heard that Robert F. Kennedy was about to win the primary
0:32.5	and celebrate at the Ambassador Hotel.
0:36.5	Yarrow admired Kennedy, and he really wanted a picture of him for his living room
0:41.7	wall.
0:42.8	And the Ambassador Hotel wasn't that far away, so Yarrow figured, what the heck, I'll go over.
0:49.7	He wound up taking one of history's most unforgettable images.
0:59.6	With his press pass and camera hanging around his neck, Yarrow was able to get close to Kennedy
1:05.2	as he finished his victory speech and walked away to shake hands.
1:10.5	That's when a man named Sirhan
1:12.8	Sirhan walked up and began firing at Kennedy's head.
1:17.2	It is possible he had not only Senator Kennedy, oh my God, Senator Kennedy has been shot.
1:25.7	Yaro was right there.
1:28.2	He described the moment for the StoryCorps podcast earlier this year, saying,
1:33.3	the crowd separated like Moses parting the Red Sea, and Kennedy was putting his hands up
1:38.8	like a boxer, trying to avoid getting hit.
1:42.1	Bobby, I saw him slumped to the ground.
1:45.1	His legs were splayed toward me, and I saw the blood dripping out of his ear.
	...

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