A Different Sort of Hero

I write this as it's being reported on ABC. A different sort of hero has just been revealed today. The identity of "Deep Throat", the mystery man behind the ultimate resignation of Richard "Tricky Dick" Nixon, has been a long held secret until today. He has revealed himself to be Mark Felt, the number two man at the F.B.I. during the Watergate conspiracy.
He has apparently questioned his role, thinking he may have been dishonorable to leak the crucial details that led Woodward and Burstein to unearth Nixon's complicity in the Watergate break-in. His friends and loved ones have apparently convinced him after all these years that he is indeed a good person, and deserves to be remembered that way.
Sometimes people are put in the position of either going with the flow or doing the right thing. Soldiers, from generals on down to the grunts in the foxholes have been faced with either following orders they knew were wrong, or doing the right thing and perhaps paying the price. A recent example was the platoon of soldiers in Iraq who refused to drive broken down vehicles carrying contaminated fuel on an 80 mile route almost certain to be attacked by insurgents. They all were disciplined in one way or another, while the military tried to spin the whole thing as a breakdown in discipline.
Mark Felt did what he felt, as a patriotic American, he had to do. History has shown, with the resignation of Richard Nixon, that he did the right thing. Yet, even up till now, he felt shame in having done so. Mark Felt was a different sort of hero.
That you, Mark, for doing the right thing. You now face the ire and hatred of the far right wing of American Politics, but, for what it's worth, you have MY respect.