What About The Tank Commander?

On June 5, 1989, a student protestor stood, shopping bags in hand, in front of a column of army tanks, blocking their path. He became an icon for his cause and is known by some as Tank Man

But, what About The Tank Commander? 

Since he was moving his tank, leading the others in his group, he no doubt had orders of some kind to do that. Tank Man was barring him from his orders. Without knowing what actually took place inside the tank, what commands were radioed in to him, it is safe to assume there was some point in time where his carrying out his orders was hindered by Tank Man. It is safe to assume that, at some point, he decided to go against orders and stop the tank.

Perhaps he thought a delay of a few seconds to radio his commander would not be frowned upon. 

But, he could not have known. He might have had a good guess that it would be okay, but he had to, at some point say to himself, "I'm going to ignore what I've been told to do (at least for a few seconds) and not run Tank Man over."

The tank commander realized what was right. And he did it, despite whatever potential negative consequences might have come from it.

Whereas Tank Man became an icon for his cause, the tank commander is largely overlooked. Yet, he could have as easily been raised up as an icon of how to behave when the normal course of action does not fit the situation at hand. 

He did the right thing in the moment. He lived out an example from which many can learn.

Sometimes, you have to do the right thing regardless of the potential negative consequences.