On this Veteran's Day I chose to profile Everett because frankly he deserves it and is somehow related to me. But, like most Mexican families sometimes you have these people in your family that you say are relatives but you've never really gotten the chart out to figure out how? 2nd or 3rd cousin? Hmmm, not sure? But I do know that his mom and my mom are comadres so that's good enough for me!
Everett Alvarez Jr. was born in 1937 in Salinas, California to farmworker parents. He was the first in his family to graduate from college and was only one of 3 Latino students at the time attending Santa Clara University, a private Jesuit school in California. Everett later joined the United States Navy in 1960 and was selected for pilot training. On August 5, 1964, during Operation Pierce Arrow, Lieutenant Alvarez's plane was shot down in what was known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.
Everett along with now Senator John McCain spent their days in a POW camp better known know as the Hanoi Hilton. He endured eight years and seven months of brutal captivity by the North Vietnamese, in which he was repeatedly beaten and tortured making him the second longest-held POW in American history. Upon his return to the United States in 1973, Alvarez decided to stay in the Navy and retired as Commander in 1980. He later earned a Juris Doctor degree and became Deputy Director of both the Peace Corps and Veteran's Administration. He holds numerous military decorations, including: the Silver Star, two Legions of Merit (with Combat "V"), two Bronze Stars (with Combat "V"), the Distinguished Flying Cross and two Purple Heart Medals. He has also co-authored two books, writing of his prisoner of war experiences in Chained Eagle and Code Of Conduct. Everett Alvarez High School in his native Salinas, California is named after him. There is also a park named in his honor in Santa Clara, California and a post office in Montgomery County, Maryland. Article about Everett Alvarez, Jr. |
