Heartbreaking Historic Photos Depict Kissing Couples During Wartime

Saying goodbye to a loved one is always hard, but the people in the photos you’re about to see did not only say goodbye, they were not even certain if they would see each other ever again.

These heartbreaking historic photos of soldiers kissing their wives and girlfriends during wartime remind us about the short timespan we have on this earth and that we should spend it lovingly and have compassion for each other.

(h/t: boredpanda.com)

#1 Soldiers Departing For Egypt Lean Out Of Their Windows To Kiss Their Loved Ones Goodbye, 1935

Image credit: E. Dean

#2 A Young Woman Lifts Her Feet While Embracing And Kissing A Uniformed Us Soldier At The Train Station, Connecticut, 1945

Image credit: Harold M. Lambert

#3 A Sailor Kissing A Nurse In New York’s Times Square. This Iconic Photo Symbolizes The End Of World War II, 1945

Image credit: Alfred Eisenstaedt

#4 A Soldier Comes Home From War, 1940s

Image credit: unknown

#5 A Woman Leans Over The Railing To Kiss A British Soldier Returning From World War II, London, 1940

Image credit: unknown

#6 Farewell To Departing Troops At New York’s Penn Station, April 1943

Image credit: Alfred Eisenstaedt

#7 A Sailor Leans Over A Picket Fence And Lifts His Girlfriend Up For A Kiss, 1945

Image credit: Hulton Archive

#8 Korean War Goodbye Kiss, Los Angeles, Sept. 6, 1950

Image credit: notbob1959

#9 An English ATS And Eighth Air Force Sergeant Enjoy A Blissful Kiss, 1945

Image credit: Ralph Morse

#10 A British Soldier Whispers Into The Ear Of A Loved One As He Leaves For The Front, 1939

Image credit: Fox Photos

#11 Saying Goodbye At The Train Station Before Departing To WWII

Image credit: unknown

#12 Farewell To Departing Troops At New York’s Penn Station, April 1943

Image credit: Alfred Eisenstaedt

#13 Jean Moore Kneels And Kisses Her Fiancé, Wheelchair-Bound World War II Veteran Ralph Neppel, 1945

Image credit: George Skadding

#14 American Soldiers Getting Last Kiss On Ship Before Deployment To Egypt, 1963

Image credit: unknown

#15 English Soldiers Saying Goodbye To Their Wives, Getting Ready To Go To Egypt, 1937

Image credit: Imagno

#16 American Soldier Kissing His English Girlfriend On Lawn In Hyde Park, 1945

Image credit: Ralph Morse

#17 US Soldier Tenderly Kissing His Girlfriend Goodbye Before Departing By Train, 1922

Image credit: ullstein bild