First Lieutenant Ralph "Kidd" Hofer, 4th Fighter Group, talking with his I.O. Lieutenant Charles Ashcraft before the first Russia Shuttle mission. Official caption on back: "Lt. Ralph K. Hover (sic), Salem, Mo., gets last minute instruction from his intelligence officer, Lt. Charles Ashcraft, of Pittsburgh, Pa., for the 21 June 44 long range fighter escort mission with bomber of the 8th Air Force which attacked targets in central Germany and then flew on to land in Russia. Lt. Hofer, the former Golden Gloves boxing champion, was recently forced down in France. He landed on the Normandy beachhead and then flew back to England, bringing with him a German helmet and a copy of Hitler’s "Mein Kampf" as souvenirs. Lt. Hover (sic) has a total of 19 ½ enemy aircraft destroyed, 16 ½ in the air and 13 on the ground." (This caption has misspelled Hofer's name as 'Hover' twice.)