A photo with a handwritten appeal and autograph by military commander Ivan Kozhedub

The text of the appeal:
"Gusev!
I cordially congratulate you on the victory of our basketball players in the 1985 European Championship.
I wish you success in your many years of useful work to develop the sports movement in the country for the glory of our beloved Motherland!

Three times Hero of the Soviet Union,
Air Marshal I.N. Kozhedub

April 30, 1986

Tamara and Lyosha
take care of each other"

Ivan Kozhedub is a Soviet military commander, air Marshal (1985), ace pilot and three times Hero of the Soviet Union. He was the most productive Soviet pilot of the Great Patriotic War. In less than two years, he destroyed 62 German aircraft. "Trizhdydub," as the cadets called him, was awarded the rank of marshal only in May 1985.

Ivan Kozhedub was not only an outstanding ace pilot, but also a talented teacher. After the war, he taught at the Air Force Academy for many years, training new generations of Soviet pilots. Among his students were many future Heroes of the Soviet Union and cosmonauts, including Georgy Beregovoy and Alexei Leonov. Kozhedub has always paid great attention not only to the flying skills of the cadets, but also to their moral and patriotic education.

Ivan Nikitovich treated his planes like living beings. According to the memoirs of his colleagues and aircraft technicians, Kozhedub always had a one—sided conversation with them - before flying out on a combat mission, he would instruct the car, and upon returning, he discussed in detail all the details of the past flight. Sometimes Ivan Kozhedub conducted a whole "debriefing" by plane before proceeding to analyze the mission with his subordinates. This feature of the ace aroused the respect of the pilots and technicians — for them it was a manifestation of his caring and thoughtful attitude to the entrusted equipment.