Conscience vs. Duty

Should you follow orders from you self or the other self?

The premise behind the film "Valkyrie" was the triumph of conscience as a personal choice over authority from the man considered by the world as the most ruthless man on Earth, Adolf Hitler. The film documented one of 15, and unfortunately the last, attempt to assassinate the man and take over the government of Germany and save it from annihilation by the incoming Allied Forces, who are also attempting to save the world by removing Hitler by military force from power.

In Colonel Staffenberg's position, it was a choice of protecting the honor of your family, or being remembered in history as allied with Hitler the evil leader of one of the Axis Powers. He had to something but in his standing, what could he?

And so, he, along with his allies in the military and political fields, staged a pseudo-coup. It was such because the other parties would be tagged as conspirators in an attempt to assassinate their own leader and Commander-in-Chief. All without their knowledge, and with the politico-military allies privy with respect to the details.

As the quote went, "Military operations never go as planned,"

Apparently not all of Hitler's secret infantry, dubbed Valkyrie, were mere pawns in his board. A few elité members were able to, in one way or another, see through the holes in the so-called "coup". From there, they knew who were the true Enemies of the State, and summarily executed them.

Unfortunately, the members -- and allies -- of Staffenberg's group went down in history books as the true Heroes of the State, so to speak, and their memories went into the making of this film.

It goes to show that heroism is not always bred in the battlefield. It is within our ranks that we can perceive them as such - heroes.