True. Erwin Rommel, the famous "Desert Fox", was an evangelical Christian. In letters prior to 1942 he made statements like, "Our Heavenly Father has sent us a man of strong will, energy and determination to lead the Fatherland to greatness again. If only the Führer wasn't surrounded by these gangsters and sycophants..."

Stauffenberg was a devout Catholic. Unlike Rommel, though, he was never enamored of Hitler, simply a conservative patriot who loved his country (and was wounded greivously in its service). The oath of allegiance (to Germany and its leadership) was taken very, very seriously by the German officer corps -- it was sacrosanct.

I don't believe Stauffenberg and the plot leaders were cowards because they didn't attempt an Al Qaeda-style suicide attack. (An army major -- name escapes me at the moment; don't want to run to the bookshelf -- volunteered to do just that, in late '43. He was kitted out with an explosive vest; the plan was to detonate it when Hitler shook hands with him at a weapons demonstration. At the last minute Hitler pulled a no-show.)

Merely killing Hitler wasn't enough. The SS and Gestapo would have to be dealt with. The mechanism for this was Operation Valkyrie, a standing plan to be used in case of an uprising by the millions of forced laborers living in Germany and/or a sudden decapitation of the Nazi leadership (by Allied action or coup attempt). The July 20 plotters hoped to use this plan to arrest SS leaders and assert control of Berlin (and operational control of the armed forces) once Hitler was kaput. The standing plan was to be implemented by the Home Army HQ -- the headquarters of all military reserves currently in Germany. Stauffenberg was the Chief of Staff of the Home Army... His presence in Berlin was essential to putting it into motion and seeing it through. That is why he placed the bomb and then immediately left Hitler's "Wolf's Lair" for the capital.

"Damn it, it's jammed!"