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Originally Posted by waste gate
A couple of questions. Are these folks in the military? Is the British military not voluntary? Why is it that they are under 'a lot of stress'? Do the Brits not train their soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen?
Stop treating these people as civilians. It was their job to go in harms way. This 'OMG' my poor child syndrome has to end. These people knew or should have known that their job will put them in danger. This isn't a game we play on our computers. It is real life.
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This is not an "if-or" statement. I'd argue that they made the smart and equally courageous choice. It is not physically courageous, certainly. But then, physical courage is easy (relatively) or at least common. Countless Japanese died showing how common it is in WWII, as do Palestinian car-bombers, 9/11 kamikaze hijackers ... etc.
Their decision to talk was not only self-preserving, but morally courageous. Freeing yourselves from the shackles of ironbound rules and traditions to make an intelligent decision requires this moral courage. Loss of telling to country = minimal to none. Loss of not cooperating = great personal pain, probable eventual acquiesance and damage to national morale from loss of personnel. Decision = Cooperate.
In pure quantity, moral courage may or may not be higher than physical courage. What's definite is that it is a much
rarer trait. Countless Japanese died because they lacked the moral courage to buck their tradition and laws. Moral courage is generally so lacking it can't be invoked in experimental situations (see, Milgram).
No doubt self-preservation played a part, but this moral courage might have been the other part of it too.