everett alvarez is the longest-held prisoner of war in vietnam. educated at santa clara university, masters degree. a masters degree. and also a law degree from george washington university. you wound up moving into the business world and developed a very successful business. from the time he came home to the time you started that successful business, how did it all come about? everett: i happened to be at the right place at the right time. , one of my classmates at santa clara, a small school, was leon panetta. i have known leon for many years. basically, i came home and from vietnam governor reagan and -- from vietnam, and governor reagan and later president reagan, i got to know his staff people and was invited to join the administration when he was elected president. i was deputy of the peace corps for a year and a half and then went over to the v.a. issues at the v.a. or agent -- issues at the v.a. were agent orange and others. i was able to serve as a number two at the v.a. i really enjoyed that work. when i left the administration, and i fo

you are on with everett alvarez. --ler: to better alvarez commander alvarez, i am a vietnam veteran. followu and john mccain the order you were given, one ,hing i learned in vietnam nobody knows when they will have their name on an artillery shell. way.ut yourself in harm's what really makes me cry this who are willing -- andfor our country you have a president who makes fun of them. beneficiary. thank you for your service. guest: many of the veterans whether they were drafted went over and served honorably and are proud of their service, came back and carried on with the rest of their lives. the vietnam experience of coming home, we came home and were given a heroes reception. it was overwhelming. what about those poor kids? 21 kids who can, didn't have it. many of them can home in caskets and their names are on the wall over here. they served honorably and they gave it their all. in a way it wasn't fair. i have always felt that we should have known better. today, there is a theme. don't blame the war on the warrior.

then everett alvarez the , longest-held pow in the a marine veteran and cofounder and ceo explains the mission to increase number of veterans in elected office. be sure to watch washington journal, live at 7:00 eastern this morning. join the discussion. discuss the future of health care in washington dc. we also hear from the head of medicaid directors. californiat of the association of physician groups.

then everett alvarez, the longest held prisoner in vietnam talks about his experience being held captive for nearly eight years. also marine veteran and ceo explains the mission to increase the number of veterans in elected office. be sure to watch cspan "washington journal" live at 70 strength saturday morning. join the discussion. >> on saturday, watch the wisconsin book festival starting at noon eastern featuring best-selling historian doug stanton and discussing the 1968. [inaudible] washington post staff writer amy goldstein on the fallout from the closing of the gm plant in janesville wisconsin. daniel golden will discuss how national security agencies established espionage rings at american universities. and they look at the lives of migrant workers in the united states. watch the wisconsin book festival saturday, starting at noon eastern on book tv. >> next a hearing on military caregivers. we have testimony from former senator elizabeth dole and actor director brian filby. this is two hours ten minutes. [inaudible conversations]

then everett alvarez the , longest-held pow in the a marine veteran and cofounder and ceo explains the mission to increase number of veterans in elected office. be sure to watch washington journal, live at 7:00 eastern this morning. join the discussion. discuss the future of health care in washington dc. we also hear from the head of medicaid directors. californiat of the association of physician groups. >> good morning. i hope you enjoyed the dinner last night are bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning. i have a couple of panels in the wings by chance. rumor had it that i did. i see them coming. there is a handwaving. very good appeared it's good to see you. i was going to have to do a monologue for an hour. that would've been something. how are you? grab a chair. we are now going to have a debate. we are going to have a classical republican versus democrat debate. it seems to be the time to do such a thing. we've got repeal and replace in the wind and a very polarized nation. this is impacting ocelot. we thought it would make sense to invite a couple of representatives from the le