A Serving of Revenge

During the summer of 1955, death came to town. Reporters circled soon after. Some would snatch tidbits and fly away; others would stay for the full feast.

The first body was embedded into the soil of a field of dandelions, grass, weeds, and stalks of volunteer corn. Hidden like a bug crushed by a rolling pin into soft dough. The earth, unlike dough, was more accepting of the intruder. It sipped from the offering before scavengers could deprive it of its due. A herd of cows retreated to a more distant piece of their world of square corners and wire. The human, who provided them hay and a little treat of sweet feed, would become an occasional memory. For now, the body was undiscovered. Not yet noticed by birds or animals, spectators or police. Just a corpse, partially buried in a field.

R. Morgan Armstrong, born in Martinsville, Virginia, was a prosecutor, trial attorney, and General District Court Judge there. He attended Virginia Military Institute, received his BA degree from Duke University, and his law degree from the University of Richmond. During law school he worked summers as a park ranger for the Army Corps of Engineers at Philpott Dam and during the summer of 1972 as a police officer for the City of Virginia Beach. While a prosecutor, he helped organize and supervise a special police unit composed of state troopers, county deputies, and town police. While a judge, he wrote the Unauthorized Practice of Law section of the Virginia District Court Judges Bench Book. He joined the National Ski Patrol (NSP) in the fall of 1980. Armstrong served in every line officer position and most instructor positions. He was elected director of the Southern Division, then elected to two terms on the national board of directors for the NSP, chaired the Governance Committee, and in 2019 was inducted into the National Ski Patrol Hall of Fame. Upon his retirement from the bench, he moved to Wintergreen Resort with his wife, Jo Ann, and their dog, Bailey. He enjoys working with the local ski patrol and writing.