Published November 12, 2011, 12:00 AM


Helmut Schmidt / Forum Communications Co.

Air Force Master Sgt. David Smith, unpacks one of his memories of the Gulf War, a cookie tin packed with scores of bomb safing pins pulled from the weapons dropped by F-16s he had helped load. “The sheer number of bombs we were dropping, it was devastating” on Iraqi troops and bases, Smith said of the 30-day bombing campaign that led up to the ground war. “It was for the best.”

Read the article: Veterans recover memories