Ev Southwick was born on October 6, 1931, in Fairbanks, Alaska, and moved to Seattle, Washington, with his family in 1944. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve on May 26, 1953, and entered active duty to attend Aviation Cadet Training at NAS Pensacola, Florida, on September 3, 1953. He transferred to NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, in October 1954, and was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy and designated a Naval Aviator on April 13, 1955. His first assignment was as an FJ-3 Fury pilot at NAS Moffett Field, California, from May 1955 to March 1959, followed by service at NAS Alameda, California, from March to May 1959. LT Southwick returned to NAS Moffett Field in June 1959, where he served as a Weapons Training Officer and Combat Flight Instructor until joining VF-141 (redesignated VF-53 on October 15, 1963) at NAS Miramar, California, in September 1962. He served as an F-8E Crusader pilot with VF-141/VF-53 from September 1962 to September 1964, and during this time he flew combat missions in Southeast Asia in July and August 1964. LCDR Southwick next served with the Bureau of Naval Personnel from September 1964 to September 1966, and he then attended F-4 Phantom II Fleet Replacement Pilot training at NAS Miramar from September 1966 to March 1967. His next assignment was as an F-4B pilot with VF-114 at NAS Miramar, and deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) from March 1967 until he was forced to eject from his stricken aircraft over North Vietnam and was taken as a Prisoner of War on May 14, 1967. Before his shootdown, LCDR Southwick was credited with the destruction of a Mig-17 over North Vietnam on April 24, 1967. After spending 2,122 days in captivity, CDR Southwick was released during Operation Homecoming on March 4, 1973. He was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries at Naval Hospital Oakland in Oakland, California, and he then received an assignment to complete his degree program at California State University, followed by Naval Justice School. His final assignment was as a Naval Lawyer in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in the Pentagon until his retirement from the Navy on August 1, 1977. Ev Southwick Flew West on December 9, 2017, and was buried at Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego, California.

His Silver Star Citation reads:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action on 24 April 1967, as a pilot of jet aircraft serving with Fighter Squadron ONE HUNDRED FOURTEEN, embarked in USS KITTY HAWK (CVA-63) during aerial combat operations in Southeast Asia. Assigned as a member of the F4 Target Combat Air Patrol element in an air strike against the Key Airfield in North Vietnam, Commander (then Lieutenant Commander) Southwick sighted several enemy MIG-17 fighter aircraft threatening the retiring strike group. Demonstrating exceptional courage, he engaged the numerically superior formation in extremely low-altitude aerial combat, thereby diverting them from the strike group. In spite of the distinct advantage held by the enemy aircraft, Commander Southwick successfully evaded hard-pressed enemy attacks and air-to-air missiles, and then initiated an attack of his own which accounted for a confirmed kill and drove off the remaining MIGs. By daring action, exceptional skill, and resolute determination, Commander Southwick upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.