"Strike Up the Band" by Joel R. Stegall (part 1 of paired stories)

 — whatever enlisted men played, or claimed to play, an instrument

An order came down to me to have the band looking sharp, sounding good, and ready to lead the parade.

Joel Stegall

In his career as professor and academic administrator, Joel Stegall wrote more than 35 journal articles, book chapters, opinion pieces and other such. None of these gained him widespread acclaim. Since retiring to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he has written a family history tracing his ancestry back to 1735. Though documentation is elusive, he has found considerable evidence that his ancestry began even earlier. Several of his stories, often about his ancestors, have appeared in the Personal Stories Publishing Project. Joel continues to write because he likes to.