This USAAF A-2 leather flight jacket belonged to one of the true daredevils of WW2.  Lt. Ralph K. ‘Kid’ Hofer of the 334th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group, 65th Fighter Wing.  Kid Hofer was a WW2 Ace, scoring 32 destroyed Nazi aircraft.  Survived being shot down over Normandy, earned a chest full of medals including 3 Air Medals and the Distinguished Flying Cross with six oak leaf clusters.  On July 2, 1944, Lt. Hofer was killed in action (KIA) when his P-51 Mustang was shot down by flak near Budapest, Hungary.   Many years after the war, the jacket was purchased from the Hofer family, restored and was displayed in a museum until very recently.  Included with Lt. Kid Hofer’s leather jacket are pictures of Lt. Hofer in his P-51, a professional opinion on the history of the jacket & artwork, with explanations of the artwork on Lt. Hofer’s two aircraft and a book written about Lt. Hofer titled, “Kidd Hofer – The Last of the Screwball Aces”.  A rare chance to own a piece of history from one of most colorful characters of WW2.

A19087