I remember back in '90 I was in hanging out in a hobby shop on my lunch break from my desk job, perusing the 1/72 airplane kits when a lady approached me cautiously to ask a question about a kit she was buying. I explained that I didn't work there but I'd help her if I could. Turned out she was shopping for her husband who was stationed overseas in the Middle East, so she was looking to send him something to work on to help him keep from getting bored.
This particular store had some of those all-in-one kits by Airfix that included a brush, some glue, and 2 or 3 little canisters of paint. She had selected a kit and asked me if it was any good. I'd built a number of the Airfix kits and told her some were better than others, but the selection at the store was limited so I suggested the best of what was available - a jet of some sort (maybe an F-15 or F-16, I can't recall exactly). She wanted something that would take him awhile to complete, so I suggested picking up a finer-point paintbrush for detailing, some extra glue, some fine-diameter plastic rod, model sandpaper (variety pack), and so forth. She thanked me and made her purchases.
This was right around October, 1990. I remember the store had its Halloween decorations out. In October 1990, Saddam invaded Kuwait. Three months later, in January, 1991, US troops invaded Iraq.
I don't know if the soldier/sailor/airman built the kit or not, but I think about it from time to time. I'm sure the package meant a lot to him, particularly just before the shooting started.
