An act of mercy during wartime misery?

Catholic pharmacist Cristina Alarcon shares her thoughts on Canadian Army captain Robert Semrau's conviction for disgraceful conduct in the shooting of an unarmed and wounded Taliban insurgent in Afghanistan. She writes:

Around the world, the trial sparked much debate, and got me thinking about what I might do in the young captain's place.
 
That's not an easy task, as scenes of wartime chaos are but shadows on a TV screen glimpsed from the bulwarks of a comfy couch.
 
Still, I can try. The young insurgent's legs were severed, his innards protruding, a horrific sight to behold. 

It was something a paramedic might encounter in the aftermath of an airline crash.
 
I had the same sort of feeling that can sometimes come over me when dealing with the hopelessly chronically ill . . . though I always manage to shake it off.
 
Confronted by such wartime misery, would I still hold firm to my principles that the ends (relief of suffering) can never justify the means (killing)?
 
Or would the stress of wartime terror blur my usual moral clarity, my sense of the uniqueness of human worth?

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