I had good reason to miss the 2012 AGS meeting as the dates overlapped with Victory Day in Moscow. Victory Day is the Russian national holiday commemorating surrender of the German army on May 9, 1945. The country fought for 6 bloody years and lost millions of civilians and soldiers, and throughout Russia and much of the former Soviet Union there is an outpouring of patriotism. My goal for the trip was to photograph elderly WWII veterans who come to display their uniforms and medals. What I found was an amazing and touching public tradition of honoring the older generation. Victory Day in 2012 was two days after Vladimir Putin's inauguration and there was a heavy military presence. In the days leading up to the event I watched as demonstrators were hustled away by police in riot gear and taken away in crowded vans. On Victory Day central Moscow was locked down and many streets and subway stations around Red Square were closed. I was able to get to Tverskaya Street, a wide b