Busboy who aided wounded Robert Kennedy, dies at 68

The hotel busboy who came to Robert F. Kennedy’s aid when the New York senator was shot in Los Angeles has died.

The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that Juan Romero died Monday in Modesto, California, at age 68.

Longtime friend and veteran TV newsman Rigo Chacon of San Jose told the Times that Chacon suffered an apparent heart attack several days earlier.

Romero was a teenage busboy in June 1968 when Kennedy walked through the Ambassador Hotel kitchen after his victory in the California presidential primary and an assassin shot him in the head.

Romero held the mortally wounded Kennedy as he lay on the ground, struggling to keep the senator’s bleeding head from hitting the floor.

The moment captured on film haunted Romero because Kennedy stopped to shake Romero’s hand and was shot seconds after that.

For many years, Romero blamed himself for Kennedy’s death – wondering if he could have done something to prevent Kennedy from being shot.

Romero often asked himself what would have happened if Kennedy had not stopped for the handshake.

But decades later, Romero said he no longer felt the same guilt, thanks in part to the support of Kennedy fans who say the former busboy was an example of the type of people Kennedy sought to help in making racial equality and civil rights a cornerstone of his life’s work.