A shout out to an American hero and shipmates

My nephew Victor Chavez is an American hero, and his service in the U.S. Navy provides my freedom to write.

The guy has already won a chest full of metals running helping to run his ship's engineering department. He saved his ship during a cyclone at sea. He was on the British ship boarded by the Iranians.

He is tough on his men to make them better but also to denote the hardened eccentricity(that's the kindest word possible) for a man destined to be the most important person on board -- a chief petty officer.

A year ago, he married a beautiful and tough woman whose father served in Chiang Kai-Shek's army that tried to keep China free after WWII from the mass murderous Mao.

Unlike me as a journalist, Victor took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. I never did. Neither did any other journalist. But we use the First Amendment like we fought for it with our very lives. We never did.

Yes, some journalists have died in every war, the great Ernie Pyle in WWII, and many journalists in the Iraq war. But in general, most journalists are alive, well and safe -- thanks to my nephew and his shipmates.

Victor, you have my deep gratitude and admiration. So do your parents and your wife, Janice. Keep fighting the good fight, along with your men and women. And I'll keep praying for your and their safe return home.