Wednesday, August 5, 1964: Everett Alvarez Jr.

Navy Lt. (j.g.) Everett Alvarez Jr. is captured after he ejects from his plane, which was hit during a raid on a North Vietnamese base. He is the first U.S. pilot to be shot down over North Vietnam and held as a POW; he would be released on February 12, 1973.

Photo from Corbis Images. Caption: "In this photo from a Japanese documentary film taken by a Japanese cameraman who was on the scene accidentally when this incident took place, a man identified as Lt. Everett Alvarez (left) is escorted by a North Vietnamese sailor. Alvarez, a U.S. airman, was shot down the U.S. retaliatory raid on North Vietnamese PT boat installations in August."

* Summary from www.pownetwork.org: @

* Summary from U.S. Department of Defense: @

* "Chained Eagle" (Alvarez and Anthony Pitch, 1989): @

* 1981 interview (wgbh.org): @

* 2013 interview (www.historynet.com): @

* "U.S. Retaliation: Air Strike is 'Devastating' " (Associated Press, August 5, 1964): @
* "U.S. Pilot Is Marched By Captors" (Associated Press, August 11, 1964): @

* "First Prisoner Release Completed" (New York Times, February 1973): @

* Earlier post on POW Floyd James Thompson (March 26, 1964): @

* "Two Men, Two Fates" (Stars and Stripes): @

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