Why did Les not fully believe the wood armor news article?
He took the report with a grain of salt because, as Iris often said, people can write anything; he suspected the writer was merely trying to get attention. His doubt was later reinforced when an Israeli general said captured Russian equipment burned like cardboard, contradicting the claim that the Russian army had adopted wood armor better than steel.
Les explains that in the late 1960s, while living in Iowa, he read a Des Moines Register news item claiming a Dutch scientist had perfected an economical process that made wood a better armor than steel, and that the Russian army quickly adopted it. He took it with a grain of salt because, like Iris always says, people can write anything; the writer seemed to be just trying to get attention. After the 1967 Six Day War, he saved a Des Moines Register clipping interviewing an Israeli general. When asked if Israel would incorporate captured Russian equipment, the general answered no way—that stuff burns like cardboard. Les carried that clipping in his Bible until it turned yellow, and the general's comment supported his initial skepticism.