Shoes: Tails from the Post. R.A. Comunale M.D. M.D.

      SHOES: Tails from the Post

      © 2013 R.A. Comunale, M.D.—All Rights Reserved

      Published by Safehaven Books, a division of Mountain Lake Press

      Conversion by eBookIt.com

      ISBN 978-0-9885919-4-3

      Cover concept by R.A. Comunale

      Cover by David Knowles

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a data base or other retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

      To the Cadet Corps of VMI

      in memoriam

      Ottie Klein Powell, “little lost boy of the mountain”

      All VMI cadets who have served their country

      and died on the field of honor

      Foreword

      Ducks and dykes.

      Y’all sure use some strange terms.

      Yes, I freely admit that I am not an alumnus of Virginia Military Institute, nor have I ever attended.

      That was my loss.

      My Rubenesque body would not have survived the tough discipline and workouts.

      My introduction to VMI—my personal Virgil—is an alumnus who chooses to be known only as Leonidas. Like the Spartan king of old, he soon conquered my reservations about visiting a campus dedicated to both education and military preparedness.

      Leonidas approached me one day with a suggestion for a novel centered on VMI. On his own time he conveyed me to the Post, showed me the landmarks, and recounted his own experiences as a young Rat. He showed me the farm, where the great battle of New Market took place, and related what I only knew briefly: the bravery and courage of an entire Corps of Cadets.

      He also related some of the historical background of Lexington and Buena Vista, Virginia.

      He then wisely told me, “It’s all yours. Run with it.”

      I hope you enjoy it.