Fortress Of Good Fortune

Fifty years ago today, the nightmare continued as Bobby Kennedy was shot in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, five years after his brother Jack was murdered and only two months after Martin Luther King, Jr., was killed. He died 26 hours later on June 6th.

In 1968, the country was having a nervous breakdown breakdown, soaked in violence. The hope of the RFK candidacy for President was blown away by bullets. Another Dallas. Could RFK have gotten us out of Vietnam sooner? Maybe not, but he would have tried. The candidate who appealed to the poor, dispossessed, and those tired of the war was gone and Richard Nixon would win the Presidency.

Later generations can't conceive of the hope and excitement of that campaign in the midst of hate and chaos and a sense that the country was falling apart, or the awful, numbing horror of "Not again!"

What might have been?

Well, I finally did have to take out a tissue by the end of the day.

( Thoughts on the Kennedy funeral )

Ted Kennedy died about twenty minutes ago of brain cancer.

Not surprising news, but sad nonetheless. He's the last surviving brother of JFK and RFK, and sister Eunice died only days ago.

A passion advocate of health care reform and the leading liberal of the Democratic Party, he will be missed.

My dad would tell the story of seeing the Senator in the Melody Tent in Hyannisport during Mass. In those days, there were no Saturday Masses, and the influx of tourists swelled the Sunday morning Masses at St. Francis Xavier, so the Melody Tent was used. My sister and I thought it was the greatest thing to go to Mass in a theatrical tent! :) Mom and Dad liked it, too. The Melody Tent still gives performances on the Cape.

In the summer of '69, Ted Kennedy would attend Mass with Secret Service agents and family, a year after brother Bobby had been murdered, and six years after JFK. A basket was passed around for the offering and the woman in front of him was so flustered she passed the basket back to Ted, who gave it to her, and she passed it back again! My dad could always tell a good story. Must have been the Irish in him. ;)

Whatever people's politics or perceptions, it really is the passing of an era here in the U.S. and in Massachusetts.

Title: They Killed Another Kennedy! (1/6)
Author: BradyGirl
Pairings/Characters: Steve/Diana, RFK, JFK
Category: Drama
Rating: (this chapter): NC-17
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
General Summary: In June of 1968, Steve and Diana struggle with violence in-country and back home.
Summary: Wonder Woman reunites with Steve in Saigon.
Date Of Completion: July 30, 2007
Date Of Posting: August 4, 2007
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em, DC does, more’s the pity.
Word Count: 1231
Feedback welcome and appreciated.
Author’s Note: jen_in_japan  requested "Steve/Diana in Vietnam, sometime in the mid-to-late ‘60s" from my DCU GSB Fic Request Meme.  All chapters can be found here.