Robert’s Story

My name is Robert A. Morss and I am an American Political Prisoner.

I’d like to begin this letter by saying that I do recall receiving an incredible message of support from Montoursville at some point last year, so if I did in fact receive a letter from you I would like to say I apologize I did not respond and thank you very much for going out of your way to write me. The last year of my life has been spent working as a “trustee” in Northern Neck Regional Jail of Warsaw, Virginia. Painting on behalf of that concentration camp, I mean jail ;). That being said, I was only getting about 2 hours of sleep a day doing my absolute best to maintain my work ethic and integrity so I could honor the incredible people who have gone out of their way to support the January 6th Political Prisoners. Keeping my composure against the outrageous and abhorrent odds was something I was capable of because of Almighty God and the American patriots around the country who have thrown in their lot with us “incarcerated few”. So I am sorry if I never responded. I had my work cut out for me, but if this is indeed the first time either one of us has tried to reach out to the other, I consider myself blessed to have made your acquaintance and look forward to maintaining correspondence with you. I have returned to Pennsylvania, though it be in a prison at Lewisburg. I still consider this transfer from the concentration camp in Virginia to a penitentiary in the cornerstone state a good omen.

Though I have returned to Pennsylvania, I was not born here. My story began in Reno, Nevada on August 20, 1993. I spent the first 17 years of my life outside as often as possible. Camping, fishing, hunting, back-packing, enjoying the outdoors and learning how to survive off the land as a boy scout, or running through the “sage and the pine” of the high deserts of northern Nevada as a cross-country runner. My parents raised my brother and I in a Christian conservative household with love and respect. They were both teachers and what they may have lacked in income, they made up for in affection, life lessons on morality and integrity, and educating my younger brother and I that freedom isn’t free.

With my parents’ patriotic example, and an ardent respect for our nation’s military, I decided to leave home at the age of 17 and join the army, leaving the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges and the dear blue waters of Lake Tahoe for the humidity, swamps, and the southern culture of Fort Benning, Georgia, home of the Infantry.

It was upon “Sand Hill” that I not only became an official Infantry man with my blue cord, but I also earned the opportunity to test myself to see if I was worthy of becoming an Airborne Ranger.

In April of 2012 I donned my Tan Beret as A Ranger of 2nd Ranger Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment. On July 6th of the same year, I would embark on my first deployment, turning 19 in the sands of Afghanistan.

During that initial combat deployment is where I also first encountered ‘The Pillar of Fate’ which descended upon me as I repeatedly walked through bombed out towns/homes of Sharana, witnessing humans being treated like cattle and cattle being treated like dirt, of which contained a constant mix of fuel, poison, blood, and metal underfoot. It was there that I was more of less “instructed” with what I must do with my life. I realized that my country could become the wasteland I just described if the next generation did not know how to “keep this republic”. The remedy to this, I rationalized, was to dedicate me entire adult life as a high school history teacher.

Two more deployments would pass, and in the year of 2015 I decided not to re-enlist in the army, serving the time of my contract and being honorably discharged in December of that year. I then moved from my duty station in the Pacific North West at Fort Lewis, Washington leaving behind so many friends and incredible memories, to return home to Reno, Nevada in order to prepare for my next adventure.

I began working nights as an Uber driver and for six months, worked each and every night to earn enough money in order to drive across the country and plant my stakes in the great state of Pennsylvania to attend college and none other than Penn State, where I had officially been accepted.

My nationwide road trip began in late June of 2016, with the goal of visiting as many significant landmarks on the northern route, with my dad and I exchanging shifts behind the wheel of the U-Haul that contained my entire life and hauled behind it the 2011 Chevy Impala I drove at the time.

The road trip was spectacular. We visited Mount Rushmore, ancient tar pits containing wooly mammoth skeletons, the Bad Lands of the Dakotas, The Arch in St. Louis, and many other locations. We took a few detours so my inspirational father and I could visit Monticello, Virginia (Thomas Jefferson’s homestead) and explore Gettysburg together, even with our cumbersome caravan.

We arrived in Tyrone, Pennsylvania where my journey across the country with my dad would finally come to an end and my college adventure would officially begin at the main campus of Penn State, pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education, utilizing my hard earned G.I. Bill benefits. My time at Penn State was legendary! I had the ultimate college experience! Not only did I achieve my goal of obtaining that degree, but I also acquired a minor History and Political Science, transcribed Civil War journals, dancing in THON, built a wall around the American flag on the old main campus for Trump in 2016, and made hundreds of phenomenal relationships/memories.

Another accomplishment of mine during my years at university was painting a 20 foot wide mural for the Petersburg Legion, Post 150, and debuting the creation on their 100 year anniversary on August 1, 2020. The mural depicted 10 panels, each capturing a major campaign of wars that the American people have engaged in throughout our nation’s history. The ceremony to unveil the mural was emotional and powerful indeed, with each panel being revealed by a child of a veteran, or of a veteran who personally fought in the war captured on the wall, including a World War 2 veteran who honored us with his presence. I revealed the 10th and last panel, featuring a scene I designed based on my time as a Ranger of My Airborne Ranger in the Sky, Thomas McPherson. He is memorialized in my mural for his sacrifice paid during deployment on October 12, 2012. I fought back tears as I revealed the final panel image, for it shows that brave man still in his prime, as a proud and strong Ranger, walking the night, hunting the wicked, and if you look closely, you will see that my Airborne Ranger in the Sky is NOT alone, in the painting. That day’s celebration was a huge success, and upon my official graduation date, that same legion offered to host a graduation party for me, due to the coronavirus pandemic restrictions at the time. I never received a graduation and because of the mural, the incredible patriots of Post 150 were happy to oblige. Before I move on, I must state for the record that neither my degree nor the mural could have been possible without the magnificent help I received along the way from the phenomenal crew of painters by my side or the support I was offered throughout my transition as a warfighting Ranger to a civilian with a degree from Penn State, I couldn’t have done any of it alone. I received my diploma and certification to teach high school history on December 19th 2020.