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Please note that our logo is used on our website images only and does not appear on our products. Fallen Eagle by Stan Stokes. (B) The McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was designed by Ed Heinemann as a successor to the Skyraider attack bomber. The prototype aircraft first flew in 1954. The diminutive Skyhawk was only 42 feet in length, with a carrier friendly wingspan of 27 feet. The Skyhawk was capable of speeds close to 700 MPH, and was produced in several variants through 1979. The Skyhawk was utilized extensively in Vietnam for ground attack and support. As depicted in Stan Stokes painting entitled Fallen Eagle, the A-4 of a young Navy aviator, Everett Alvarez, has just taken off from the USS Constellation at 2:30 PM on August 5, 1964. Alvarez, a native of Salinas California, had attended the University of Santa Clara before joining the Navy. It was a day that Alvarez would not soon forget. About midnight that day the destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy were under attack from North Vietnamese patrol boats in international waters sixty miles off the coast of North Vietnam. Alvarez unit, the VA-144 Roadrunners, had been scrambled to assist the destroyers, but terrible weather conditions prevented any action. Washington decided to retaliate against these attacks by authorizing the first bombardment of North Vietnam on August 5, 1964. On that day twenty-two aircraft from the USS Ticonderoga attacked North Vietnam military targets at 1:15 PM. Only one aircraft was damaged during this first wave, and its pilot successfully made it back to an airfield in South Vietnam. The USS Constellation would provide a second wave involving 10 Skyhawks, 4 Skyraiders, and a single F-4 to provide fighter cover. Alvarez target was the harbor at Hon Gai, where his mission was to destroy any military patrol boats in the harbor. The lumbering Skyraiders were launched early, and Alvarez was the first of the ten Skyhawks off the Constellation. The Skyhawks rendezvoused at 20,000 feet before climbing to 30,000 feet for the seventy-five minute flight to the target area. Alvarez A-4 was equipped with a belly pod of 19 rockets. The Skyhawks streaked in over the harbor at 500 MPH in a shallow dive. Four torpedo boats and a larger coastal patrol ship were in the harbor. Alvarez made two passes over the harbor, and as he was passing over the southern edge of the town he saw a yellow flash to the port side of his windscreen accompanied by a popping sound. Seconds later the A-4 shook violently, and all the warning lights came on. The cockpit began to fill with smoke and the stick froze. With a final radio transmission, Im getting out! Ill see you guys later!, Alvarez pulled his ejection ring. Within seconds he was in the water. Picked-up minutes later by some very nervous fisherman, Everett Alvarez would become the first pilot shot down and captured over North Vietnam. It would be eight-and-one-half years later that Alvarez would be released, having endured hardships which would have broken anyone of less than the highest faith and courage. Everett Alvarez retired from the Navy in 1980, and was later a Deputy Director of the Peace Corps, and Deputy Director of the Veterans Administration. Item Code : STK0055B Fallen Eagle by Stan Stokes. (B) - This Edition TYPE EDITION DETAILS SIZE SIGNATURES OFFERS YOUR PRICE PURCHASING PRINT 225 prints from the signed limited edition of 4750 prints, with signature of Stan Stokes and pilot, and a remarque. Image size 16 inches x 11.5 inches (41cm x 30cm) Alvarez, Everrett + Artist : Stan Stokes Signature(s) value alone : £40 £25 Off! Now : £105.00 All prices on our website are displayed in British Pounds Sterling

Other editions of this item : Fallen Eagle by Stan Stokes. STK0055 TYPE EDITION DETAILS SIZE SIGNATURES OFFERS YOUR PRICE PURCHASING PRINT Signed limited edition of 4750 prints. Supplied with signed and numbered certificate of authenticity. Print size 16 inches x 11.5 inches (41cm x 30cm) Artist : Stan Stokes £15 Off! Now : £35.00 VIEW EDITION... PRINT Limited edition of 25 giclee art prints. Only two prints now available in this edition. Size 21 inches x 14 inches (53cm x 36cm) Artist : Stan Stokes £10 Off! Now : £135.00 VIEW EDITION... PRINT Prints from the 225 prints from the signed limited edition of 4750 prints, with signature of Stan Stokes and pilot. Image size 16 inches x 11.5 inches (41cm x 30cm) Alvarez, Everrett + Artist : Stan Stokes Signature(s) value alone : £40 £45 Off! Now : £85.00 VIEW EDITION... GICLEE CANVAS Limited edition of 100 giclee canvas prints. SOLD OUT. Size 45 inches x 30 inches (114cm x 76cm) none SOLD OUT VIEW EDITION... GICLEE CANVAS Limited edition of 100 giclee canvas prints. SOLD OUT. Size 36 inches x 24 inches (91cm x 61cm) none SOLD OUT VIEW EDITION... GICLEE CANVAS Limited edition of 100 giclee canvas prints. SOLD OUT. Size 27 inches x 18 inches (69cm x 46cm) none SOLD OUT VIEW EDITION... General descriptions of types of editions :

Extra Details : Fallen Eagle by Stan Stokes. (B)

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Signatures on this item
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare.
Name	Info
Everrett Alvarez Jr *Signature Value : £40	Alvarez was born in 1937 in Salinas, California. He is the grandson of immigrants from Mexico. He went to Santa Clara University on an academic scholarship. He joined the United States Navy in 1960 and was selected for pilot training. On August 5th, 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's call sign was Four-Eleven, and he came up on the air saying, 411, I'm hit, followed by I can't control it. I'm ejecting. Accompanying aircraft heard his emergency beeper, made three or four orbits, and then were forced to leave the area because of low fuel states. Alvarez was captured about 4:00 pm Hanoi time at Ha Long Bay near the Hon Gai target. He was kept in a local jail cell in Hon Gai with two Vietnamese prisoners for two days, then moved to a nearby farm until August 12th. On the 12th, he was taken to Hanoi, arriving at Hoa Lo prison (later called the Hanoi Hilton) around 4:00 pm. He was put in room 24, where he lived until March of 1965 when other American prisoners started to arrive. The Navy had lost two aviators, LTJG Everett Alvarez from VA 144 and LTJG Richard C. Sather from VA 145, an A-1 squadron. Alvarez earned the dubious distinction of being the first naval aviator captured by the North Vietnamese and spent eight-and-one-half years in captivity by the North Vietnamese, 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.