This fall, the National Naval Aviation Museum invites you into a profound journey of sacrifice, courage, and the enduring human spirit with the unveiling of its new exhibit, Return with Honor. Opening to the public on September 19, 2025, this narrative-rich experience examines the story of American prisoners of war (POWs) from the Vietnam War and the powerful legacy they carry home.

At the heart of the exhibit is Commander Everett Alvarez Jr.—shot down over North Vietnam on August 5, 1964, and imprisoned in the notorious Hỏa Lò Prison, the so-called “Hanoi Hilton,” for more than eight years. Through StoryFile’s interactive AI platform, visitors now step into his lived story and engage in real-time conversations with him. The installation uses his actual recorded answers to hundreds of questions, capturing his voice, his expressions, and the truths of his experience—not imagined responses.

“We had a code. It was Return with Honor. It was our dignity, our reputation, our character that brought us through.”—Commander Everett Alvarez Jr.

Visitors begin their journey through chapters titled The Home Front, The Capture, Interrogation, Prison Life, Coming Home, and Aftermath, moving from the shock of capture through years of endurance, and ultimately to the hard terrain of reintegration. Along the way, you’ll hear from other POWs like Mike McGrath and John Ensch, and glimpse the waiting families back home in the section “A Life Suspended.”

What sets Return with Honor apart is the role of authentic interactive storytelling. Instead of relying on generative scripts or third-party voice simulators, StoryFile’s platform is rooted in first-person testimony—real words, real voice, real experience. The effect is understandable and visceral: the moment you ask a question and hear Alvarez’s actual response, you feel the distance between generic AI and personal history shrink.

The exhibit was celebrated in a public ceremony at the museum’s Blue Angels Atrium where POW veterans and their families gathered to honor the sacrifice and the shared mission of remembering.

This exhibit offers more than history—it offers a conversation. Visitors leave not with static facts, but with something more powerful: a moment of direct connection between the present and the past, a chance to ask, listen, and understand what it meant to live, fight, and endure for freedom.

Want to Learn More?

🔗 Exhibit page – National Naval Aviation Museum

🔗 Grand Opening & Commemorative Tribute