Military officials had given the Tennessee Guard unit "reassurance all along that this would be taken care of," said Tom Griscom, the paper's publisher and executive editor.
"We have pictures of soldiers in the 278th literally going through [a] scrap heap" scavenging steel plate for their vehicles, Griscom said.
"They [the soldiers] spoke for themselves," Griscom said.
Griscom said he supported the way Pitts handled the situation.
"Lee called in here yesterday on the [satellite] phone, told us how the questions had unfolded," he said.
"I am supportive of his trying to find a way to get a question asked," Griscom said.
Though there was some discussion at the paper about Pitts' handling of the matter, Griscom said, "I would not start by saying we made a mistake. I personally do not think we made a mistake."
Texkat,
What the soldier said may or may not be true, it is irrelevant. The issue is a breach of military unit cohesiveness initiated and encouraged by an embedded reporter with an agenda.
By the way, if I were over there, I would no doubt be scrounging for iron plate and glass to supplement the armor on my vehicle. Any military person would do it to increase their chances of survival. Heck, the Marines make a living at improvising with what they have. But you most likely won't hear them address the Secretary of Defense in that fashion.
If those soldiers are actually going through trash heaps as is claimed...they are doing it outside the knowlege of their chain of command and outside the prescribed regulations set forth by DoD for in country modifications to the Hummers.
What these guys don't realize is that buy rigging their Hummers w/ "Hillbilly Armor" if they get blown up...the investigators will fault the operators of that vehicle for improper protective modifications. There's a right way and a wrong way to add protection of your own making to your vehicle...these guys were clearly doing it the WRONG way.