Latino Facts: April 30, 1975 Master Sergeant Juan J. Valdez becomes the last American to leave Vietnam proving Latinos in military service were:"First in... last to leave.

Patrolling the Gulf of Tonkin near the North Vietnamese coast, the destroyer USS Maddox was attacked by four torpedo (PT) boats on August 2, 1964. One North Vietnamese PT boat was destroyed, another crippled and one 14.5-mm shell left its mark on the Maddox. The Maddox was ordered to return to the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2, and was joined by the USS C. Turner Joy. On August 4, another attack by North Vietnamese PT boats occurred (most historians agree that no such attack took place).

This attacked allowed President Johnson to obtain from Congress carte blanche in conducting a war against the communist forces in Vietnam, via the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Johnson used this authority to immediately retaliate against PT bases in N. Vietnam, and in later years commit over 500,000 American troops to pacify South Vietnam.

Aircraft from the USS Ticonderoga and Constellation staged an attack against PT bases along the North Vietnamese coast and near the Chinese border on August 5. Taking part in these attacks was Lt. Junior Grade Everett Alvarez, Jr. an A4C Skyhawk pilot. Alvarez' Skyhawk was hit by enemy fire and he was forced to eject. Later captured, Alvarez became the first American pilot shot down over N. Vietnam and the first Prisoner of War (P.O.W.). America also lost its first pilot in the same raid as Lt. Junior Grade Richard C. Sather's A1 Skyraider was shot and he was listed as Killed in Action (his remains were finally returned by the Vietnamese government in 1985).

As the bombing of N. Vietnam increased, so did the number of pilots shot down and taken prisoner. Many American pilots were paraded through the streets of Hanoi, the N. Vietnamese capital, blindfolded and with their hands tied behind their backs. Everett Alvarez clearly remembers during one such parade North Vietnamese throwing objects at him and yelling, in English, "Alvarez, Alvarez, Son of a bitch, Son of a bitch!" The captured aviators received inhumane treatment and were constantly subject to beatings and interrogations, in complete violation of the Geneva Convention on P.O.W.s.

Although U.S. military regulations considered it treasonous to divulge secrets under any situation, these regulations had to be changed after the Vietnam War. Because most soldiers had been trained never to give up military secrets, the beatings they endured - both physical and psychological - were extremely severe, and in the end their N. Vietnamese captors obtained the information they needed as every man broke down. One American P.O.W. remarked that he went into his first interrogation thinking he would tough it out like John Wayne; after several hours of beatings he turned over all vital information his captors asked for and even some information they hadn't. The U.S. military realized that everyone has a breaking point, and to ask their soldiers to endure deep physical and psychological scarring was out of the question.

After 8� years in captivity, Everett Alvarez, Jr. was released on February 12, 1973 along with 590 of his fellow P.O.W.s. Alvarez has the dubious distinction of being held longer than any other P.O.W. in American history. He returned to his hometown of Salinas, California a hero, having earned the Silver Star, two Legions of Merit, two Bronze Stars, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and two Purple Hearts.

Since leaving the military Alvarez began his own consulting firm, Conwal Inc., and has also served as Vice President for Government Services with the Hospital Corporation of America, the Deputy Administrator of the Veterans Administration, the Deputy Director of the Peace Corps and program manager with the Naval Air Systems Command.

In 1995 his hometown of Salinas named a high school after him, and in 1996 President Clinton named him to the Board of Regents for the Uniformed Services University of the Health Services.