caption serviceyears branch relations death_place death_date birth_place allegiance awards battles birth_date rank image article_title name
byron mccandless in 1915 1905 & ndash ; 1946 united states navy father honor recipient grandfather of bruce mccandless ii , nasa astronaut of rear admiral bruce mccandless , medal of mariposa , california 30 may 1967 endicott , nebraska united states of america navy cross legion of merit world war i world war ii 5 september 1881 commodore byron mccandless 1915.jpg byron mccandless
 byron mccandless
byron mccandless

commodore byron mccandless -lrb- september 5 , 1881 -- may 30 , 1967 -rrb- was a longtime u.s. navy officer who was awarded the navy cross during world war i and the legion of merit during world war ii .
he was also prominent in the field of vexillology -lrb- the study of flags -rrb- , and helped design two separate versions of the flag of the president of the united states .
he was the father of bruce mccandless , also a naval officer , and the grandfather of nasa astronaut bruce mccandless ii .
commodore mccandless was later promoted to the rank of rear admiral on the retired list .
