Heritage Coach Dealer Blog USA

One of the most famous funeral cars in the world was not a car at all but a train. This month marks the 40th anniversary of the death of Robert F. Kennedy. Bobby Kennedy followed his famous brother into politics, and among other positions served as Attorney General during his brother’s presidency.

When John F. Kennedy was assassinated, the world turned its hopes to Bobby. John’s death had been extremely hard on him, but Bobby was motivated to right the wrongs he saw in the country. In November 1964, he was elected United States Senator from New York.

Bobby was extraordinarily popular. He was known for his outspoken criticism of Lyndon Johnson’s Vietnam policy, his support of civil rights and his willingness to take action. When he announced his bid for the presidency, he easily clinched the Democratic nomination.

Shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, Bobby Kennedy addressed supporters at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He finished up and left the stage, and moments later was attacked by homeless drifter Sirhan Sirhan. Hours later, in a nearby hospital, he was declared dead.

After a mourning period in New York, it was time to transfer Bobby Kennedy’s body to Washington DC for burial. What transpired was one of the most moving tributes ever witnessed. The train planned to travel at normal speed, unlike the funeral trains of Lincoln and Roosevelt, both of whom were Presidents. Kennedy was merely a nominee, or so it was thought.

Instead, the scene that awaited was compared to that of Lincoln’s funeral train. Along every stretch of track, hundreds of mourners lined up to pay their last respects. Black and white, young and old, rich and poor, all were obvious in their grief. Parents held children up to take a look. Elderly people sat in lawn chairs and firefighters in uniform stood at attention beside their trucks.

The train slowed. What else could it do? From New York to Washington DC, people of all walks of life were eager to pay their last respects to the man that many believed would have been able to quell riots, end a war and bring the nation together in harmony. Forty years later, the images are as haunting as they were on the day it happened.