Everett Alvarez Jr. (born December 23, 1937) is a former U.S. Navy Commander who endured one of the longest periods as a prisoner of war (POW) in American military history. Alvarez was the first U.S. pilot to be downed and detained during the Vietnam War and spent over eight years in captivity; making him the second longest-held American POW, after U.S. Army Colonel Floyd James Thompson.
Navy pilot Lt.Jg. Everett Alvarez was shot down and taken as a Prisoner of War on August 5, 1964, on the first raid into North Vietnam. Alvarez was the longest held aviator shot down in North Vietnam, and spent the next 3,113 days in captivity before being released during Operation Homecoming on February 12, 1973. He retired from the Navy as a Commander on June 30, 1980.