It’s simple, graceful, and Russian: it's the balalaika! Its three magical strings touch the heart and they even helped one American soldier overcome the hardships of war in Afghanistan.

Imagine that you just came from a tour in Iraq and will have another in Afghanistan. You pack your uniform, your flak jacket, your weapons, some money…oh, and a balalaika?

Well, at least that’s what former U.S. marine 29-year-old Chris Treichel did when he went to fight in the Middle East.

“I was recalled to the Marine Corps to go to Afghanistan on active duty and once I arrived I had a lot of free time, so I called up my fiancée and said, ‘Hey, stick the balalaika in a box and send it over to me’. And about three or four weeks later I received it,” Chris Treichel says.

Even in the middle of a war, Chris was able to be faithful to his beloved three-stringed Russian instrument.

“I really got to be able to play the balalaika a lot better having about two hours of practice time everyday and it gave me something else to think about. It definitely made me a bit happier,” Chris adds.

The young veteran is part of the Washington balalaika society – a group of ordinary people whose orchestra helps keep Russian music alive by playing in America. By day they are doctors, lawyers, NASA engineers. At night they come to form the largest and most professional group of its kind in the United States.