Orator Evangelo (Vann) Morris - U.S. Navy 1989-2014

Evangelo "Vann" Morris is a former nuclear powered ballistic missile Submariner, Afghanistan-deployed combat Veteran, and retired U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer (SWO). This decorated and educated Vet has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, CA), a Bachelors of Science degree in Engineering Technology from the University of Memphis (TN), and an array of military achievements, of which I will provide just one of them. In 2001, his team seized 14 tons of pure cocaine during a Colombian drug raid. It was the largest drug bust in U.S. maritime history. During his 30 years with the U.S. government, he travelled to 45 countries and has conducted major operations with personnel from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Special Operations Forces. During his last two tours of duty, he proudly served at the U.S. Pentagon in Washington D.C. and United States Special Operations Command in Tampa, Florida. Parallel with his military career, Vann has been public speaking and acting for well over 20 years. He has a wife (Rita) and three sons are all U.S. Veterans.

Old Glory - Orator Evangelo (Vann) Morris

As a boy I had an embarrassing speech impediment. I struggled to pronounce certain words, vowels, and letters. My parents sent me to a speech therapist to get my speaking abilities on par with the other children. Little did I know, I would grow up to love nothing more than public speaking. As an adult, I enlisted into the U.S. Navy’s submarine force. Ten years later, I became a commissioned officer, we jokingly call that transition “going to the dark side.” I was assigned to nearly every type ship platform the Navy had. During my assignment to the Pentagon, I would often get requests to perform Old Glory at retirement or promotion ceremonies. Such a task seemed easy enough. All I had to do was read the Old Glory poem. The same old poem that others, decades before me, recited during Navy and Marine Corps retirement ceremonies. However, in my case, things would not happen so smoothly. The rhythmic cadence and passion that I read Old Glory with, drew extra attention, especially to the lyrics. The highest-ranking generals and admirals began identifying several gaps and friction points in the poem. I swiftly took heed to their comments and made the changes. The cumulative result of making those changes was an Old Glory rendition with more heartfelt compassion, strength, and love for all Americans. A rendition that would showcase pure patriotism by uses the flag as a conduit to connect the Servicemembers to the Constitution.