EWU ROTC Gold Star Alumni: Owen McCandlis

Photo of Owen McCandlis

OWEN TED McCANDLIS

(U.S. Army Reserve)

Rank: 1st Lieutenant

Hometown: Snohomish, WA

Branch: Infantry

Born: 27 December 1944

Death: 05 February 1970

Location: Quang Tri, Vietnam

A rifle badge

A sketch of the name on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall: Panel 14W–Line 105


In the Army, when a family loses a member in war, we refer to them as a “Gold Star Family.”  Each of our Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) graduates that were killed in action we consider them a “Gold Star Alumni” because they are part of our ROTC family.

First Lieutenant Owen McCandlis was from Snohomish, Washington and graduated from Eastern in 1968 where he commissioned into the Army as an Infantry officer. He deployed to Vietnam the following year and was killed on February 5, 1970. He was 25 years old.

The Department of Military Science offers condolences to the family of First Lieutenant Owen McCandlis and commemorates his service for making the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our great nation.

Note: If any friends or family have any memories they would like to share about Owen McCandlis, please leave a note in the comments section because we would love to learn more about our fallen Fighting Eagle.