aFrom the majority of posts on the Bentwaters friends forum it would appear that that most personnel posted to the base enjoyed their time there. The unfortunate suicide stands out for a couple of reasons:
a. given the number of personnel passing through the base over the years, it is probably within the average. Not everyone mixes well and some find it hard being away from home, especially those who are 'loners' to some extent. This can be compounded if a man is dumped by a girlffiend or a wife back home. Also, the confidential nature of the work can mean that if there is a problem is related to that work then they cannot talk about it to anyone other than those they work directly with. If it is not work related then there is a welfare system, chaplin etc but not everyone wants to share their problems as it can be seen as a sign of weakness. Whilst serving with the Royal Navy in Hong Kong we had one guy go 'over the wall' because he wasn't allowed compassionate leave to return to the UK to sort out a domestic problem. He was quickly caught and received six months 'second class' (which means he was disrated and regarded as the lowest of the low. He'd have done better to have whacked the skipper on the nose and serve 3 mths in DQ's). This chap didn't commit suicide but it shows how men can be effected by personal circumstances. Also, there is an accommodation block in one UK RN barracks referred to as 'the suicide block'. It [allegedly] got its name because one or possibly two ratings jumped out of the windows. If you visit the BBC News website (
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news) you will see a story about the closure of Deepcut (Army) Barracks. This particular barracks is infamous for the number of suicides (four I think) amongst the squaddies stationed there. Thus suicides 'in the mob' are not exactly uncommon so I shouldn't attach too much importance to this. There is one reason that in 1980, might have caused guys to commit suicide -
and I stress that I am in no way implying that this was the case here - and that was because they were gay. Certainly in the British forces in 1980 to be found out to be gay was the end of your service career, no matter how good you were. Obviously there have been gays in the forces since the year dot. Everyone knew who they were and most were left to get on with it, provided they behaved in an appropriate manner. If you watch a video of the Royal Yacht paying off you will see three badge AB's holding hands and crying. Enough said! I suspect the same must have been true of US forces. Today, of course, it is no longer a 'problem' and gays have nothing to fear in that respect.
b. What is odd, however, is the seemingly undue delay in returning the body and that [allegedly] there was no investigation nor [allegedly] was any reason for the young man's action ever given, nor [allegedly] was the manner in which he committed suicide revealed (at least, I don't think it said anything about that in the post). It would also seem that the event coincided with the Rendlesham incident - but this could be pure coincidence. As we know nothing about the circumstances of this unfortunate event, out of respect to the family of this young man and the families of others at the twin bases who took their own lives, we should be very careful indeed before we go further down this route.
You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time (Winston Churchill)...causa latet, vis est notissima