The smell of women, I don't quite understand why the colonel later committed suicide.

Because he used to be a glorious hero and won many medals of honor only for heroes, but then his sudden blindness disrupted his life and made him unable to take care of himself. He had to be guided to move freely, which had a fierce conflict with his freedom-loving personality, which made him feel very painful and even wanted to commit suicide. He needed someone to give him a reason not to die, but at last a young man gave him the answer to this question. Although he is blind, he found a way that suits him. That's the smell of women.