Anthony S. Pitch - Chained Eagle: The Heroic Story of the First American Shot Down over North Vietnam

SERIES EDITORS

Walter J. Boyne and Peter B. Mersky

Aviation Classics are inspired nonfictional and fictional accounts that reveal the human drama of flight. The series covers every era of military and civilian aviation, is international in scope, and encompasses flying in all of its diversity. Some of the books are well-known bestsellers, and others are superb but unheralded titles that deserve a wider audience.

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by James Dugan and Carroll Stewart

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The Heroic Story of the First American
Shot Down over North Vietnam

EVERETT ALVAREZ, JR.,
and

ANTHONY S. PITCH

Originally published in 1989 by Donald 1. Fine, Inc. Copyright 1989 by Everett Alvarez, Jr., and Anthony S. Pitch.

Published in 2005 in the United States by Potomac Books, Inc. (formerly Brasseys, Inc.). All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Alvarez, Everett, 1937
Chained eagle: the heroic story of the first American shot down over North Vietnam / Everett Alvarez, Jr. and Anthony S. Pitch. 1st ed.
p. cm.(Aviation classics)
Originally published: New York: D.I. Fine, cl989.
ISBN 978-1-57488-558-3 (alk. paper)
1. Alvarez, Everett, 1937 2. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975Prisoners and prisons, North Vietnamese. 3. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975Personal narratives, American. 4. Prisoners of warUnited StatesBiography. 5. Prisoners of warVietnamBiography. I. Pitch, Anthony. II. Title. III. Aviation classic series (Washington D.C.)

DS559.4A48 2005
959.70437092273dc22
[B] 2005043032

Printed on acid-free paper that meets the American
National Standards Institute Z39-48 Standard.

Potomac Books, Inc.
22841 Quicksilver Drive
Dulles, Virginia 20166

First Edition

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

TO THE MEN WHO SUFFERED CAPTIVITY AS
PRISONERS OF WAR IN NORTH VIETNAM, WHO
SHARED THE PAINFUL EXPERIENCE, WHO CAME
HOME WITH THEIR DIGNITY AND PERSONAL
INTEGRITY INTACT. AND TO THOSE WHO DID
NOT RETURN.
TO THEIR LOVED ONES WHO WAITED. AND
ENDURED.
AND TO THOSE WHO STILL WAIT.

FOR THE HELP I RECEIVED IN PREPARING THIS BOOK, I want to thank my former cell mates from the POW camps in North Vietnam who graciously gave their time to relive painful memories in order to substantiate events and circumstances, namely Lt. Col. Thomas Barrett, USAF (Ret); Lt. Col. Kyle Berg, USAF (Ret); Capt. David Carey, USN (Ret); Capt. Gerald Coffee, USN (Ret); and Capt. William Metzger, Jr. USN. I want to thank my friend, Capt. John Nicholson, USN (Ret), who was flying with me the day I was shot down, and who never gave up on me.

I am eternally grateful to my Mom and Dad, and to my sisters, Delia and Madeleine, for reliving painfully emotional experiences a decade and a half after my return from Vietnam. I never knew their story, and they never knew mine, until now. I am grateful to my aunt Cecilia and cousins Linda and Albert for the time they took to assist with the manuscript and recreate events, and to the extended Sanchez family for their supportive efforts over the years, especially the long, long hours spent collecting signatures in the petition drives.

I want to thank Tony Pitch for his strong commitment and dedication to this effort over the past three years.

Finally, I want to give special thanks to my wife, Tammy, and my sons, Marc and Bryan, for their patience and understanding. Most of what appears in this book was new to them. Things they learned of their husband and dad were from a different time, a different place. I owe all to Tammy, to whom I am lucky to be married, for if it had not been for her urging and steadfast support this story would not have been told.

Everett Alvarez, Jr.

For their guidance towards overall improvement of the early draft manuscripts, and for their encouragement during the long haul that lay ahead, I wish to thank my friends whose judgment I value so highly: Milton Kapelus, Allan Mendelowitz, Rona Mendelsohn and Rudi Munitz.

To Everett Alvarez, Sr., Soledad Alvarez, Delia Alvarez, Madeleine Schramm, Cecilia Sanchez, Albert Sanchez, and Linda Espinosa my gratitude for their warm Californian hospitality and their readiness to sit for long interviews, even while tears flowed and hearts ached in the remembrances.

My apologies and appreciation to my wife, Marion, and my children, Michael and Nomi, who suffered much neglect during the years it took to structure and write this book. Without their tolerance it would not have been possible to indulge the selfish creative process.

Anthony S. Pitch

WHEN MY CO-AUTHOR ASKED ME IN THE SUMMER OF 1986 whether I wanted to collaborate on this book I accepted immediately. The time was right. Thirteen years had passed since my liberation and return to the USA. Saigon had fallen to the enemy eleven years back. The post-war years had allowed me to get on with my life, remarry, raise a family, and distance myself from the carnage and horrors of captivity. Older and wiser, I could look back on those years with a deeper understanding and dispassionate reflection. I also had the advantage of reviewing thousands of declassified documents relating to the war. There was much to tell and messages to impart. The book would record the past and perhaps enlighten posterity. It would be my personal testament to successive generations and to many high school and college students around the country, for whom the Vietnam War is little more than aging history.

In the intervening years our country had also begun to heal. Americans in opposite camps of the divisive war were more receptive to seeing the total picture. There was a readiness to separate individuals from the politics of the conflict. The most vivid expression of this new mood came with the construction of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in our nations capital. Veterans Day 1982 was cold and blustery when I had the honor to address the multitudes gathered for the dedication, but there was a special warmth in our hearts. I knew that I spoke for millions when I said, With this long overdue week of activities, with this parade today and especially with this dedication, America is saying, Welcome home!

More than two million Americans served in Vietnam, most of them accepting their duty unselfishly and heroically. Even though the public at large still had a difficult time dealing with the effects of the war, no one should have been debating the sacrifice of those who fell while serving. No one can doubt, I continued, that the Vietnam Veterans Memorial will be an eternal touchstone for the conscience of this nation. It will tell us, as no words can, of the awesome responsibility we have as members of a free and democratic society.

Not a single man I met during all my years in captivity agreed with the conduct of the war. As military men we were told we could not strike certain harbors, airfields, missile sites and other targets. That was no way to win a war. The lesson we should learn from Vietnam is that if we are going to get involved in a foreign war again, lets make up our minds as a country that the cause is worth fighting for, then lets go in and do it right and win. Otherwise, we shouldnt get involved in the first place.