The spirit of service

Last night, at the beginning of his acceptance speech, Barack Obama thanked several of the DNC's figureheads. Of one of those figureheads, he said the following:

"...to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service"

Would Mary Jo Kopechne concur with this viewpoint? If so, the events of July 18, 1969 must have gone something like this:

Mary Jo Kopechne: "Ted, I'd like to die tonight."
Ted Kennedy: "Well Mary Jo, in the 'spirit of service' I will crash this car into the nearest tidal waters and leave you to drown! I'm a 'spirit of service' kinda guy!"