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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 A somber day, 40 years later By Julie Muhlstein, Herald Columnist During this pivotal and groundbreaking week in our nation's political life, there is a reason to look back. It is not to relive agony. It is not to raise the specter of vile possibility. It is to remember -- because those who do remember can't ignore that memory -- and to recognize how very far our country has come. It was June 5, 1968, 40 years ago Thursday, that Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles after winning the California primary for the Democratic presidential nomination. "That was huge," said Jude Vang, who would graduate three days later, June 8, 1968, from Monroe High School. Vang, who was Jude Thomas back then, recalls the enormous sadness she felt for the Kennedy family. Her class was in eighth grade at Monroe Junior High when President John F. Kennedy was slain in 1963. She also remembers a leaden return to politics as usual in the 1968 presidential race after violence ended Robert Kennedy's inspirational campaign. Running on a vow to restore law and order in a time of protests against the Vietnam War, Republican Richard Nixon defeated Democrat Hubert Humphrey in the '68 presidential race. Vang, 58, sees in Barack Obama, this year's likely Democratic nominee, a fresh approach and an appeal to young people that remind her of Robert Kennedy. "His approach is different, fresh and younger, like the Kennedys," said Vang, who supports Obama. "He makes sense and appeals to all the common people." Eadye Johnson Martinson was one of Vang's classmates, one of 86 graduates of Monroe High in 1968. The two women are now planning their 40th class reunion. Martinson, 57, said her reaction to the death of Robert Kennedy was absolute shock. "With President Kennedy being assassinated, and then a few short years later for two major political figures to be assassinated like that, it was so shocking," she said. In April of their senior year, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was slain. The country was still reeling from that tragedy when news came that a second Kennedy had been shot to death. "Robert Kennedy caught people's interest. He seemed so youthful," said Martinson, who spoke Monday as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was undergoing surgery on a malignant brain tumor. "It just seems like tragedy hits all of that family. Early on, it seemed like they were charmed, but one tragedy after another befell that family," Martinson added. Like today, our country was at war. Young graduates were caught up in the far-off conflict in Vietnam. "I got married in September of 1969," said Martinson, who lives in Monroe. "My brother was there for the wedding, then a week later was in boot camp with the Marines." Her brother, Dana Johnson, served in Vietnam and now lives in California. "My biggest fear was for all my friends, and who was going to be drafted right away," said Vang, of Everett. With wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and terrorism being a new-millennium version of the terrors of the Cold War, the women see parallels between then and now. Much, though, has changed. Whatever becomes the end result of the 2008 race for the White House, it is a watershed in our national history. In 1968, third-party candidate George Wallace, the former governor of Alabama, made a strong showing in some parts of the country with his segregationist views. And in 1968 at Monroe High School, girls were not allowed to wear pants to school. Any notions of a woman or a minority man making a formidable run for president were hard to imagine. "Not in 1968," Vang said. "Democrats now have the best of both worlds, a female and a biracial person," said Martinson, who hasn't made up her mind in this year's race. "It really shows that America is becoming less about color. Back then, it was a big deal that President Kennedy was Catholic," said Martinson. "We've come a long ways in being more fair to all people." Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein@heraldnet.com.

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