At 9:15 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time on June 4, 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Kennedy had just given his victory speech after winning the California Democratic primary.
KHON reporter and anchor Tom McWilliams was in the newsroom that Tuesday night preparing for the 10 o’clock news. This month we look back at McWilliams’ recollection of covering the assassination of RFK and his decade of broadcasting in Hawaii.
McWilliams was born in Toledo, Ohio. A fan of Lloyd Thaxton, a former Toledo resident who struck it big on the West Coast, McWilliams was inspired to get into broadcasting himself.
His first broadcasting gig was as a deejay in Adrian, Mich., where he replaced Phil Donahue. In 1963, McWilliams was drafted into the Army and was sent to Schofield Barracks.
"When Uncle Sam decided I should spend 21 months at Schofield Barracks, little did I know about Hawaii," he said. "My knowledge of the islands came primarily from Arthur Godfrey radio and TV broadcasts and the Warner Bros. TV show ‘Hawaiian Eye.’
"I came to appreciate Hawaii like many other newcomers do; I let the islands get into my head. Every morning I walked out of my barracks and looked up at that cross in Kolekole Pass and thanked God for sending me there rather than Alaska."
Following deejaystints in his hometown of Toledo and in Florida, McWilliams returned to Honolulu in 1967 and landed a job at KHAI radio.
"I had many great memories of Hawaii and made a promise to myself that I would return someday, and I did," McWilliams said.
KHAI was on the grounds of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, and after the station folded, McWilliams worked at KHVH radio.
His first on-air experience in television news was in 1968 as a reporter and anchor at KHON, where he was hired by the late news director Dick Desmond.
"The night of the RFK shooting, I was preparing to do news headlines promoting KHON’s late news (a 10-minute show that led into ‘The Huntley-Brinkley Report’), and as I passed the teletype machine, the bulletin bells sounded with the first report of the shooting. I grabbed the report — just one sentence — and headed to the studio," McWilliams recalled. "I told the director what had happened and asked to have updates brought to me.
"Once I went on the air, it was nonstop for at least 1 1/2 to two hours, maybe even longer. At one point Doug Mossman came in to join me, and I believe Dick Desmond showed up as well. Seems to me we finally called it quits when RFK went into surgery and it was expected to be hours before any new developments."
Kennedy died June 6, 1968.
KHVH (now KITV) hired McWilliams later in 1968 and he became an anchor and reporter for the station, even filling in as a sportscaster.
A five-year stint working as Don Robbs’ sidekick and delivering the news on the "Honolulu AM/Don Robbs Show" began in 1969. The talk show showcased an eclectic array of local as well as national talent, from Don Ho to the Carpenters.
Lots of surprises happened on the live show over the years, including an earthquake, and an exotic dancer walking out during an interview.
"Tom was a trouper, very talented," said Jim Manke, former KHVH news director, via email. "(He) could do any story with finesse and often with wry humor. He worked with Robbs on (‘Honolulu AM’) and was perfect on that show. Great voice, too — very smooth."
McWilliams returned to KHON in 1976 as a reporter. His last time on the air was filling in for Joe Moore during a sports report in 1979. McWilliams went on to spend a decade working in Kalamazoo, Mich., at the CBS affiliate.
Hawaii never left McWilliams’ mind and heart as he returned to the islands nearly every fall with his wife, Clare, for their wedding anniversary. McWilliams’ daughter, Kelli, who was born at Kaiser Hospital in 1969, and her family moved to Oahu in 2010.
Tom and Clare McWilliams moved back to the islands in 2011 but recently relocated to the "ninth island" of Las Vegas.
"We’re still getting to know Vegas, but so far we like it," McWilliams said.
A.J. McWhorter, a collector of film and videotape cataloging Hawaii’s TV history, has worked as a producer, writer and researcher for both local and national media. Email him at flashback@hawaii.rr.com.
