I don't really see why he offed himself. I know that he supposedly offers some responsibility in the tragedy.... but it seems too extreme for a man in his position. Morally he was caught in the middle of everything... and legally was caught in the middle of everything. If he was going to testify, I doubt he'd be going down with the ship too.
shareHe probably felt like he could've done more to prevent what happened to Santiago. What I don't get is, if he felt that much guilt he wanted to kill himself, why not testify first to make things right?
shareI see the points on both of your posts. It's definitely an interesting situation with Markinson and his eventual suicide.
He also had an interesting relationship with Col. Jessup. If I remember correctly, Col. Jessup mentioned that they went through "The Academy" together, so they had known each other for a long time. And Markinson knew that Jessup had "friends in high places" and was on the fast track to being promoted.
A lot of people who attempt suicide just aren't thinking clearly at the time. I think Markinson felt overwhelmed and hopeless in his situation. Also, it kind of goes back to "The Code" that the movie mentions so often..."Unit, Corps, God, Country." I think Markinson felt that he had damaged/dishonored the "Unit" and "Corps" with his actions (and "non-actions") and it was too much for him to bear. I also think Markinson would have carried the "guilt" of Santiago's death with him for the rest of his life and he just couldn't handle it (i.e., in his state of mind at the time).
He was a bit nuts, wasn't he?
Remember Kevin Bacon "He's a crazy man!"
He didn't have to do what he did. He could have testified and faced the music like a man.
Nothing is worth blowing the one life you get - and most certainly, the music Markinson would face wasn't worth ending his life over.
Unless of course he was crazy.....