Again, I will point out that while an option may be contained within the rules, it is a personal choice to take that option. You (not the OP, it's a general "You") could have just as easily NOT taken the option that is available to you. If taking that option results in a morally questionable outcome, you bear the responsibility of the results of choosing to take that action. You made a choice, and it affected other people, therefore you need to be able to talk to the other people about why you made that choice.
The OP does this beautifully. He gives a reason why he made the choice, he presents the circumstances surrounding the choice, he defends the choice he made at the time, and then he tells us how he feels about it with more time and distance to reflect on other choices he could have made, but didn't. In this case he believes that he made the wrong choice, but his approach to giving an explanation would be equally praiseworthy if he still believed he made the right choice.
Thank you for writing a constructive post in a sensible manner.