Saying a prayer for national unity on the anniversary of RFK’s death

Every year, at this point, in quiet contemplation, I consider Robert F. Kennedy’s extraordinary life, the hope and promise that he has embodied. He was a hero of my childhood and a means to pilot it in my adult life. In an age where Americans feel so detached, destroyed by tribalism, worried about achieving their goals and the future of democracy, it is important to look back at this part of our country’s history and what this amazing person meant.

We were a working class Irish Catholic family. As a little boy, a portrait of President John F. Kennedy hangs in our living room, and a coffee table had a memorial book entitled “The Torch Is Passed.” So when Robert F. Kennedy took office in 1968, I was in third grade and I was excited about it and followed as closely as a 9-year-old could with the help of my mother and school teacher.

Robert F. Kennedy competed in the presidency in the history of our country, when the Vietnam War was raging and social unrest enraged following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. His candidacy was to seek moral leadership around the world and healing for the nation.

On the tragic day in June when Sen. Kennedy was fatally shot, I remember coming home from school for lunch, crying and upsetting. The school was within walking distance, but I remember that long walk. My mother must have known the news when she sent me to school, but she chose not to tell me. My mother was visibly upset too, and she prayed with us, and she lighted the candle.

Looking at photos of the funeral train that carried Kennedy’s co to Washington from New York, we see a group of two million people in total, lined up on the tracks along the entire route. His sad faces were old and young, rich and poor, black, white and brown. It was a true cross-section of America, their final respect. Now, looking back at it as a military veteran, the formal salutes from uniformed police officers and members of service, or civilians with hands above their hearts, are especially moving. You really get the feeling that you were someone who was able to connect the country here. This is a harsh message to reflect on these divided eras, and we need to ask ourselves: what does it mean for us today?

For me, regardless of my political beliefs, it must be a call for grace and courtesy in our public discourse. It is a call to strengthen our social and political institutions and restore the sense of our national community. We need to ask ourselves. When did you become so crude that you hated someone based solely on your political affiliation? We need to listen to legitimate concerns from both sides of the political aisle, but I think we can all agree that the “F– K Joe Biden” sign spelled out that the kids are on the school bus wrong.

When I look back at Kennedy’s legacy, I recall compassion – compassion for the entire human family. These are times of uncertainty and we face many challenges. This is the time to move towards right thinking and right actions. It’s a way of thinking that someone else doesn’t need to lose to win.

Robert F. Kennedy says, “Freedom means not just the opportunity to know, but the will to know. It can bring understanding and tolerance, and ultimately friendship and peace.” I hope that “our people” can summon the will to know and the desire to seek a better understanding.

When I was working at the Pentagon, I frequently visited Arlington National Cemetery on weekend mornings and tried to reset its internal gyroscope. I had visited the RFK cemetery once. In the early hours of one spring morning, I saw the bird’s land, which nested on a cross on a small plain, with nesting materials in its beak. For me, this completely symbolized his message during that final campaign. So, on June 6th this year, let his family, Robert F. Kennedy, pray for peace, for all those in pain, and who are struggling and for the unity of the nation.

William McKilkin is a retired US Navy rear admiral who currently lives on his farm in Florida.