Speaking as someone who did wear an Army uniform (in fact, during the time when the Pentagon Papers were released), I don’t know of many people who ever served who would sympathize with Manning, let alone think him some kind of hero. People in uniform get to disobey unlawful orders. In fact, they are supposed to. They don’t get to be muckraking whistleblowers, let alone engage in a conspiracy to release massive amounts of classified and highly sensitive data. Some people, including Daniel Ellsberg himself, have compared Manning’s actions to the Pentagon Papers in 1971. Very different situation. First, Ellsberg was not serving in uniform. Second, the report known as the Pentagon Papers, although classified, was about the history of our involvement in Vietnam. It did not involve contemporaneous classified information, the release of which endangers operatives in the field and our ability to conduct diplomatic relationships with other nations. Manning is going away for a long time. He could make his stay more pleasant if he would cooperate with the investigation. Ellsberg was never convicted of anything, but Manning will be. Had he done this during WW II, he would have been executed. How in the dickens a PFC (third lowest rank) with an ordinary Secret (not Top Secret) clearance ever managed to have access to this information is a whole ‘nother issue.