Morland was the son of Lucian Emmery Branning and Josie May Johnston. His father followed the work, and the family moved often. Born in Kongsberg, soon off to Velva, next Broomhead, Saskatchewan, on to Etzikom, Alberta, and Caldwell, Idaho. In the spring of 1928, they moved to Hamilton, Montana, '29 to Missoula, and in 1931 Helena.

Morland joined the army at Fort Missoula, Montana December 1940, was sent to Paris, Texas for boot camp, then to the island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands, where he was stationed at Fort Kamehameha with the 155th Coast Artillery. "...on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, I was in the harbor defenses of Pearl Harbor and have a medal for that action."

As an early riser, Morland was at the mess hall when Japanese planes strafed the building. The soldiers battled the enemy planes with practice ammunition since the combat ammunition was locked up, and the officer with the key on the other side of the island.

After the bombing, Morland served as a construction foreman in the 38 1st Engineer C Battalion. He returned from Hawaii in 1942, and spent six months in flight school at Shreveport, Louisiana. It appeared the war was shifting gears, so they pulled him out and sent him to Biloxi, Mississippi to train for the Combat Engineers.

Morland sailed for Europe on a convoy ship in 1944. After arriving in England, he went to sleep, and when he awoke the next morning and looked around the barracks, everyone around him was white-faced, the ashtrays overflowing with cigarette butts, and discovered he had slept through one of the worst bombing blitz ever of London.

Morland then went to Northern France with the 301st Combat Engineers, 10th Army Corp. As a staff sergeant, he was in charge of 40 men. They went in ahead of the army fighting units. They worked nights, going in and blowing up bridges for fear they were mined, and putting in their place Bailey Bridges - a type of bridge you can get on and then move the bridge across the water. They were strong enough to hold a tank. Morland did this across several countries - Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany. Morland's platoon's Cat D-8s cleared the way for General Patton's tanks to drive seven miles into German held territory.

"One night we arrived at the river's edge near a bridge we were set to blow, and set up camp. Next morning we were just finishing up, and when the dawn came we looked across the river and saw German troops getting ready to cross from the other side. We broke camp and slipped away."

After the Allies entered Germany, a lieutenant, a jeep driver, and Morland investigated a block-long warehouse that was windowless. The lieutenant shot off the padlock with his pistol. The men sloshed through liquid on the floor and lit matches to try to see what was in boxes. The lieutenant sent the driver back to the jeep to get a flashlight. The boxes contained dynamite that the nitro glycerine had seeped out of. Lucky!

Towards the end of the war, Morland was in the Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945). This "was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg.... The surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. United States forces ... incurred their highest casualties for any operation during the war." ~wikipedia

"After a journey through England, France, Luxembourg and Germany and various ribbons, including good conduct I ended up in Ft. Douglas, Utah to be discharged after four and a half years service." Morland was sent home in April of 1945, and officially discharged in August of 1946.

Hazel Ellen Beach had moved out of her parents' home at the end of summer, 1946. She was rooming with two friends in Hot Springs, all three sharing a bed... These girls already knew Morland and introduced them shortly after Hazel moved in. They were married at Missoula on March 5, 1947.

Two weeks later the sawmill Morland was working at burned down. Work was scarce, and they moved 13 times over the next 18 months - back and forth between Alberton, Seely Lake, Dixon, Missoula.

In April of 1949, when their second son was just nine days old, the family moved to Helena. They started building their home in May of 1950, and moved in January 22, 1951. "Some months we could only afford 3 more boards, but bit by bit we got it done." Three daughters were born in Helena and came home to the house Dad and Mom built.

Morland and his brother Vernon went into business together in February of 1955 as Branning Brothers Construction, starting out with a backhoe, a D-2 Cat, and two old trucks. Morland built their first lowboy trailer in his backyard. They dug basements and water and sewer ditches. They secured the bid for work on Carroll College, and won subcontracts on road projects. The brothers built bin wall for the freeway in Wolf Creek Canyon between Helena and Great Falls, and installed pipe and culverts on projects near Missoula, Superior, Alberton and Hamilton. Morland and Vernon hired a woman who was adept at bolting metal pipe sections together on the Sleeping Giant project south of Hamilton, unusual in 1964.

In 1965, Morland and Vernon amicably separated, and Morland turned to local work as M.P. Branning Excavating, due to illness within his family.

As happens most summers in Montana, large forest fires erupt. Morland dozed fire trails on several forest fires. He helped stop the fire that threatened to destroy Clancy, Montana. On one fire, his red International TD-14 dozer was splashed with fire retardant from a plane.

In 1972 Morland's pickup was struck by a young man racing another car, and he lay unconscious for three weeks in a Great Falls hospital. He never fully recovered, and reluctantly retired early. Medical costs mounted and in 1977 Morland and Hazel sold the home they had built to settle up. They purchased land north of East Helena, and set up a mobile home.

Morland played the violin, but said he was never as good as his Pop had been. Whenever company gathered, the Pinochle cards came out. He enjoyed Cribbage, Pitch, and more. Most summers included a family camping trip in the great outdoors, and dining on Rainbow trout cooked over a campfire. Come fall he loved to hunt. He taught his daughters how to skin deer and elk, and we all butchered the meat on the dining room table, wrapped it in butcher's paper, and put it in the deep freeze for the upcoming year.

Disappointed that he had been unable to complete flight school in the Army, Morland decided to pursue that dream. He obtained his pilot's license, and purchased his own four-seater Cessna airplane. He loved to fly, and we all got to experience the exhilaration - or should I say the fear - of flight.

Morland was a natural at making his own. He built a boat large enough for all seven of us, a tote goat - sort of a homemade motorcycle, a go-cart, and he fixed and overhauled his backhoe, shovel, front-end loader, Cat, and so on during the winters to get them ready for work come thaw. "He joked with his sons that he should trade in his 16-ton backhoe and tell the dealer, 'A little old lady used it to work in her garden on weekends.'" He helped all his kids learn to drive, and that included learning how to change oil, a tire, and more. When our cars broke down, he helped us get them running again.

Morland held family in high esteem, and took the time to take his family to visit far and wide. From California to Banff, Alberta, Glacier National Park to the Lewis & Clark Caverns, Newport, Washington to the Gates of the Mountains, Portland to Fernie, British Columbia, and more, the family gathered together. After his children were grown, he made sure to keep in contact no matter where their travels took them.

In early 2005, Morland's health deteriorated dramatically and he spent several weeks at the Veteran's Hospital at Fort Harrison, Montana. From there he was moved to the Evergreen Nursing Home in Clancy, Montana.

On March 5, 2005 Morland and Hazel quietly celebrated 58 years of marriage. He died the next day.

Deeply missed and remembered always with love, rest in peace, dear father.