The NW7US Beacon

reportagebygettyimages:

ALDAN, RUSSIA: Alexander Ovchinikov, an 18-year-old ‘srochniki’ starting his 2-year compulsory national service, bids a tearful farewell to family and friends on November 1, 2004 in his hometown of Aldan, in Eastern Siberia, Russia. The train will take ‘Sasha’ to an army barracks three days journey away in Khabarovsk.

Photo by 2006 Getty Images Editorial Grant winner Simon Roberts. Roberts’s project, The Russian Army, explores the intertwined relationship between military and daily life in Russian society.

The Getty Images Grants for Editorial Photography are now open for entries.

No matter the country to which a soldier swears allegiance, the heart remains bound to loved ones… and love knows no boundaries, even when physically torn apart.  I know, as I once served in the US Army.