Hundreds of US service members were taken by the North Vietnamese (NVA) and held prisoner during the Vietnam War. What makes Everett Alvarez, Jr. unique is that he was imprisoned for eight and a half years, making him the second-longest held prisoner of war (POW) in American history. Now, decades after his release, the US Navy veteran is slated to receive the highest honor the US Congress can bestow upon him: the Congressional Gold Medal.
On August 5, 1964, Alvarez was a naval aviator stationed aboard the USS Constellation (CV-64). He’d just completed an air raid on an NVA patrol boat base along Hạ Long Bay when his Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was hit by enemy fire. Forced to eject from the damaged attack aircraft, he was soon captured by the enemy forces, interrogated and sent to Hỏa Lò Prison, better known as the “Hanoi Hilton.”
Alvarez was both the first American and the first naval pilot to be held by the North Vietnamese.
According to the US Navy, Alvarez was held in an area of the camp known as the “Heartbreak Hotel,” where new prisoners were processed and interrogated. From mid-September 1965 to November of that year, he endured eight hours a day of interrogation. When he refused to give any information, he was kept in isolation. He wasn’t able to communicate with another prisoner for 13 months.
It wasn’t long after his arrival at Hỏa Lò that Alvarez grew ill, thanks to the inedible quality of the food provided to POWs by those overseeing the prison camp. He dropped 40 pounds in a matter of weeks and couldn’t hold anything down, prompting the NVA to provide him with rice soup – this offered much more sustenance than the rotten fish and animal hooves he was being fed.
By mid-1965, an underground communications network had been created by Hỏa Lò’s POWs, and it wasn’t long before Alvarez was able to begin sending messages to others by scratching notes onto kitchen cutlery.
Alvarez was among dozens of POWs who were marched before angry crowds in Hanoi and berated by locals. He was also frequently subjected to beatings and torture.
When Hỏa Lò became increasingly overcrowded, Alvarez was transferred to the “Zoo,” another NVA prison. On February 12, 1973, after 3,113 days in captivity, he was released as part of Operation Homecoming. He continued to serve after his release, albeit with a few more medals pinned to his uniform, including two Purple Hearts and a Silver Star.
Speaking about his survival later in life, Alvarez credited his faith in God and the support he had from other POWs. “We had a philosophy that you didn’t ever let your fellows down,” he said. “If they couldn’t take care of themselves, you took care of them because you knew darned well they would do the same.
“We had a goal,” he added. “We were determined to come home with our personal integrity, our reputation and with our honor.”
Alvarez served for another 20 years, before leaving the Navy with the rank of commander in June 1980. He went on to earn his law degree, co-author two books, establish a technology company, and serve as the deputy director of both the Peace Corps and the Veterans Administration.
The bill that’ll award Alvarez, 86, the Congressional Gold Medal was unanimously passed by Congress on December 11, 2024. It has since been sent to US President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed. Once it’s been signed, the medal will be commissioned, with a ceremony then held in Washington, DC.
Speaking about the decision to present Alvarez with the medal, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), who sponsored the bill, said, “Cmdr. Alvarez is an American hero who served as an inspiring source of hope for other prisoners of war during his time in Vietnam.”
Upon learning about the bill in October 2024, Alvarez said, “I am humbled beyond belief. There is no way I am able to express my profound appreciation for this recognition.” He added that he sees the medal as not only recognizing his own efforts, but those of the hundreds of other POWs who endured the same horrific conditions as him in Vietnam.
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As aforementioned, Alvarez was the second-longest held POW in American history, after US Army Col. Floyd James Thompson, who was imprisoned by the North Vietnamese for nine years.
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