His grandfather was David McCanles, who was killed by Wild Bill Hickok in 1861 at the Rock Creek Station, Nebraska shoot-out.

His father was Julius McCandless (born 1851), who later moved his family to Florence, Colorado, where he operated a hardware store.

[9] Following his graduation from the United States Naval Academy in 1905, McCandless sailed with the Great White Fleet on the USS Maine.

[8][10] He was a gunnery and turret officer, and later became the flag lieutenant and aide to Rear Admiral Charles J. Badger, the commander of the Atlantic Fleet.

His citation read:[13][14] For distinguished service in the line of his profession as commanding officer of the USS Caldwell, engaged in the important, exacting and hazardous duty of patrolling the waters infested with enemy submarines and mines, in escorting and protecting vitally important convoys of troops and supplies through these waters, and in offensive and defensive action, vigorously and unremittingly prosecuted against all forms of enemy naval activity.After the war, McCandless was the executive officer on the battleship USS Kansas.

[12][13] McCandless attended the Naval War College, then became the Director of the Training Division in the Navy's Bureau of Navigation, and later headed the Branch Hydrographic Office in Boston.

Helped by the addition of several floating dry docks, between 1943 and 1945 the base performed conversion, overhaul, maintenance and battle damage repair to more than 5,000 ships.

McCandless suggested a design which added four stars to the Navy's version (which used the Great Seal on a blue background), as this would be enough to distinguish it from the Army infantry flag.

[23] In March 1945, Franklin Roosevelt wondered if the four stars were still appropriate, given the creation of the five-star Fleet Admiral and General of the Army ranks during World War II.

Despite initial responses which recommended no change (the stars were not supposed to be indicative of rank), Roosevelt persisted and had a message sent to his old colleague McCandless, by this time a Commodore and commanding the Naval Repair Base in San Diego.

This design was used for the presidential coat of arms, seal, and flag, and was officially defined with Executive Order 9646 issued on October 25, 1945.

Dr. Harold D. Langley of the Smithsonian eventually edited down the manuscript to a 260-page book, So Proudly We Hail: The History of the United States Flag, which was published in 1981.