Chained Eagle
New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc., 1989. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. ix, [1], 308, [2] pages. Illustrations. DJ is price clipped. Everett Alvarez Jr. (born December 23, 1937) is a former United States Navy officer who endured one of the longest periods as a prisoner of war (POW) in U. S. military history. Alvarez was the first U. S. pilot to be shot down and detained during the Vietnam War and spent over eight years in captivity, making him the second longest-held U. S. POW, after U. S. Army Colonel Floyd James Thompson. On August 5, 1964, during Operation Pierce Arrow, LTJG. Alvarez's Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was shot down in the immediate aftermath of what is known as the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Alvarez endured eight years and seven months of brutal captivity by the North Vietnamese at the H a Lò Prison (sarcastically known as the "Hanoi Hilton" by fellow POWs), in which he was repeatedly beaten and tortured. Alvarez was especially esteemed by his fellow prisoners because he was for almost a year the only aviator prisoner of war. Alvarez retired from the U. S. Navy with the rank of commander in 1980. He later earned a Master's Degree in Operations and Research Analysis and a Juris Doctor degree. In April 1981, he was appointed by President Reagan to the post of Deputy Director of the Peace Corps. In July 1982, President Reagan nominated and the U. S. Senate confirmed him as Deputy Administrator of the Veterans Administration (VA). After six years with the VA he was appointed by President Reagan in 1988 to the Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) in Bethesda, Maryland. More