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.