Stories

The Maury, a tributary of The James River and part of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, flows through Lexington.  VMI used it for training until the City of Lexington tore down the old dam.

Things have turned out badly every time I have been in the Maury River.

I lost a watch I had worn for years when I rode the Rat Challenge Slide-for-life with the Class of 2001.  It was only a Casio, but I loved that watch.  River water went up my nose when I did the Vertical Insertion, giving me a sinus infection for a week.

On a Recon for a Ranger Company rubber boat mission, Major Tertychny, Major Gowan, and I capsized a canoe in freezing water.  The waters of the Maury pinned our borrowed canoe against the Highway-11 bridge.  We had to pull it out with an Army 2-1/2 Ton truck.

During an ill-conceived and planned swim with the 2003 cadet leadership, testing a leg of a new Rat Crucible, we found that the river in March is cold.  We had no life preservers, nor did we plan for the cold mile-long walk back to the barracks, dripping wet.  We were lucky no one was hypothermic.  I discovered I was supposed to be in Cameron Hall to receive a mentor award.  Nothing is quite so embarrassing as having the Dean call your name in front of the entire VMI community and not being there to answer.

During the Rat Cricibe Swim, I dropped one of our new $600 Radios. Though I wrapped it in plastic and duct tape, it died a horrible death.

A former cadet asked if my daughter and I would like to go canoeing on the Maury.  I agreed, picturing a leisurely float down the river on a Sunday afternoon, drinking beer, taking photos, and swimming.  What ensued was a painful series of walks through the shallows, repeatedly capsizing the canoe, chasing our gear, losing my throwaway camera and S. Pauli Girl beers, and almost drowning my daughter.

If you go in the Maury River, be safe and never go with me.  If you see a bottle of St. Pauli bobbing by, find a Casio watch or an FM Radio washed up on shore, or discover a Kodak camera in the James River, you'll know why.