The Long Watch
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The Long Watch is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein.
Originally written for the American Legion, this is a patriotic tale of Johnny, a man who sacrifices his life to prevent a coup by a would-be dictator bent on nuclear blackmail. When all nuclear weapons are placed on the Moon in the hands of carefully selected peacekeepers, a power hungry cabal of renegades attempts to hold the world hostage. The protaganist is the base's junior bomb officer who refuses to allow his charges to be misused by his superiors and makes sure of it.
On the surface, the climax could look like a near brush with altruism -- unusual for this author-- until we remember that the protagonist is a soldier doing his duty. This story is referred to in his novel Space Cadet. Note that in that novel the bombs have been moved to high orbit, out of reach.