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40 Years Ago, Memories of RFK Linger for Boys Town AlumnusLess than a month before he was killed, Presidential hopeful Sen. Robert F. Kennedy made a special campaign stop – A stop still frozen in time in the mind of Joe Marsh.Kennedy made a brief stop at Boys Town during his Nebraska Presidential Primary campaign visit to Omaha, and a still photographer captured that moment on film and in Joe Marsh’s heart.“To this day, it (photo) is one of the most priceless items that is dear to me,” said Marsh, 50, of Malabar, Fla. The UPI photo shows a smiling 9 year old with a skinned lip and nose being consoled by New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy. “Everyone was pumped up to see him,” remembers Marsh. “A bunch of us were chasing after the cars, he was in a convertible, waving to everyone, and we were just running and waving and saying goodbye when I fell on the asphalt cutting my nose and lip.” |
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Kennedy noticed Joe’s tumble, stopped his motorcade and had two Secret Service agents help him up. “The next thing I knew I was sitting on the trunk of his car and he was consoling me and asking me if I was alright,” said Marsh. Kennedy took a piece of notebook paper and wrote “For Joseph, best wishes. Robert Kennedy” on it and gave it to him. The photo made its way into newspapers across the country, bearing the caption, “Campaign Casualty.” |
“I treasure that picture,” said Marsh, a UPS driver, who also is an alpaca farmer with his wife, Maryann. “It was such a wonderful moment in my life, to share that with him. For him to take time out to not only notice me but to help me and see if I was alright is really something.”
Marsh was one of three brothers (Ed and Kevin) who came to Boys Town from Akron, Ohio. Joe spent five years at what was then Boys Town’s only child care facility. His brother Ed would later be elected Mayor of Boys Town.
“The five best years of my life were at Boys Town,” Marsh said. “They set me up for life, put me in a good routine and put me on a path. They taught me good morals and values – and to stick to them.” Marsh has been living in Florida for 32 years and driving for UPS for 30 years.
Marsh’s brief encounter with Kennedy came less than one month before the senator was assassinated shortly after winning the Democratic primary in California. His death 40 years ago, just after midnight, June 5, came one week before young Joe turned 10.
For Joe, however, the focus on Robert F. Kennedy will be on that moment frozen in time and the good memories he has of Boys Town. “His kindness is a legacy. It will stay with me forever.”
