Can't mount proc filesystem on boot

[brad]

I am having a weird problem.  While working remotely on a server, I
started getting strange errors.  I first noticed it when trying to edit
a file with vi.  The error I got when trying to vi was segmentation
fault.  Now I have rebooted the machine and it fails on boot with a
message that it cannot read/proc/mounts, no such file or directory, and
then complains that it cannot mount proc.  When I go into linux rescue,
it shows both /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2 as clean (/boot and /
respectively).  I can also chroot /mnt/sysimage in linux rescue and go
in /proc and see that mounts is a sym link to /proc/self/mounts and that
self is a sym link to a changing directory named with a number.  Issuing
either vi or mount within linux rescue still gives me a segmentation
fault.  Any ideas what might be happening?  Thanks in advance.

Brad