Grass is Greener

[Barrett]

Today I spent an enjoyable couple of hours guiding a Vietnam MiG killer thru the Champlin Museum. RADM Dennis Wisely (Ret) was an F-4 pilot aboard USS Kitty Hawk in 1967, the second of three deployments he made to the Tonkin Gulf. On that cruise he bagged two MiG-17s: top USN score until '72. He's also a test pilot and former Blue Angels skipper. While he spent a fair amount of time explaining MiGs to his wife, Denny was intrigued with the WW I birds, as he'd not had much exposure to the subject.
The prospect of strapping on a Sopwith Snipe "strike fighter" definitely appealed to Denny, as he frequently employed the Phantom's air-ground capability during his 350 missions. I mention this perspective as representative of the aviation Grass Is Greener attitude: it'd be unusual to meet a combat pilot from any war who wouldn't gladly trade places with an earlier (or even later) period.