"I just had one of my best days as a journalist today," Pitt wrote in his e-mail from Kuwait, where he is embedded with the 278th Regimental Combat Team.

"As luck would have it, our journey North was delayed just long enough so I could attend a visit today here by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld."

At the meeting Spc. Thomas Wilson of the 278th asked, "Why do we soldiers have to dig through local landfills for pieces of scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass to uparmor our vehicles?"

Told that only soldiers – not reporters – could ask questions, Pitts explained how he "found the sergeant in charge of the microphone for the question-and-answer session and made sure he knew to get my guys out of the crowd."

Rumsfeld said armored military vehicles have been brought to the region "from all over the world, from where they're not needed to a place they're needed. It's essentially a matter of physics, not a matter of money. It's a matter of production and the capability of doing it.

"As you know, you have to go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you want."

Tom Griscom, the Free Press' publisher and executive editor, said of the incident, which gathered comment all the way to the White House, "We have pictures of soldiers in the 278th literally going through [a] scrap heap" scavenging steel plate for their vehicles."

"They [the soldiers] spoke for themselves," Griscom said, adding that he supported the way Pitts handled the situation.

Editor's note: