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Gibbon I'm not passing judgment on him refusing to touch something either boobytrapped or unstable, we had plenty of guys reject orders to do things like climb a ladder into a ceiling attic (great way to get your head blown off). We likely needed more guys to reject stupid, like the time a E7 got it into his head to collect his platoon up and go on litter pickup patrol in Fallujah, in 2007, while the LT. was sleeping and completely unaware his men were leaving the wire, in a area thick with snipers. That would of been a great time to protest.
Only time you gotta follow suicidal orders in a well ordered unit is when it's bounding or traveling overwatch and you are ordered to take a sketchy spot for the overall defence of the unit, or being told to bound forward on a sniper position that is lighting up your unit, etc. Time isn't on your side to do it properly and you are guaranteed a court marshal for refusing, if they don't outright shoot you if someone else is killed.
Otherwise.... if I saw something like a radio in a field and I had my doubts, thinking it was a trap, I'd take my time if time wasn't the issue. But not all leadership is the same. I would be probing it underneath with a stick and looking at it from every angle if I had my doubts. We all get basic training with demining for that reason, but EOD likewise exists. If your son lived refusing a order but the other guy died following orders, most likely the person who ordered it got court marshalled and lost.
