Why did Les doubt the 1960s claim that wood armor had been made better than steel?
He doubted it because, as he read it, people can write anything, so a newspaper report alone did not prove the claim. The doubt was reinforced after the 1967 Six Day War, when an Israeli general dismissed captured Russian equipment, saying it burns like cardboard.
Les explains that back in the late 1960s, while still living in Iowa, he read a Des Moines Register news item claiming a Dutch scientist had perfected an economical process making wood a better armor than steel, and the Russian army quickly adopted it. He took the report with a grain of salt because, as Iris always says, people can write anything. Later, after the 1967 Six Day War, a 1969 Des Moines Register article reported a reporter interviewing an Israeli general about captured Russian equipment. When asked if Israel would incorporate it, the general said no way, because that stuff burns like cardboard. That confirmed Les's skepticism.