Ted Kennedy & The Bridge At Chappaquiddick (MP3s)

July 18 (Saturday) will mark the 40th anniversary of the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.  Kopechne left a party with Senator Ted Kennedy who piloted  his Oldsmobile 88 off the side of a nearby bridge and into the water below.  He managed to escape, but Kopechne drowned in the car.  In an act of indefensible cowardice, Kennedy fled the scene and did not bother contacting the police until 10AM the next morning.

Kennedy's account of the evening is full of inconsistencies and raises a great many questions.  Earlier this year, the Boston Globe published a detailed account of the tragedy, which can be found here.

        

Don Eddings  -  Chappaquiddick Bridge  (2:47)

Voices Of Cape Cod  -  The Ballad Of Mary Jo  (3:47)  The Ballad Of Mary Jo was written by Doctor Ludmil Chotkowski, an internist who earned his medical degree at Yale University School Of Medicine.  In addition to this song, he is also the author of a 2002 book titled Chiropractic: The Greatest Hoax Of The Century?  He died in 2006 and his obituary can be read here.

Comments

[buzz]

National Lampoon once referred to Mary Jo Kopechne as the savior of her country. They also had an ad in one of their annuals that showed a floating Volkswagen and said Ted would have been president if he had driven a VW.

[jayne]

listen

1 if i hear one more word about pure little mary jo kopechne i'll hurl. yes kennedy's actions are indefensible and mary jo did not deserve to die but she'd be alive if she werent in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong guy. and she was there willingly. he did not kidnap her. she was drinking and partying hearty of her own will too. lets face it. ted kennedy was a handsome enigmatic big shot in 1969 and what could be cooler for mary jo than to have a kennedy bang her. case closed.

[Jeff Wahlen]

I've always been curious as to why all the rest of us must report an accident or crime immediately and are not given 9 hours to sober up, lawyer up, and conjure up our story?