This happened during the Vietnam war, too.
Once during a protest march, the marchers went right past Walter Reed.
Some of the marchers (with Viet Cong flags) got into fights with the recovering soldiers.
The DC police (for which I will never forgive them) waded
in to break up the fights, and clubbed--not the demonstrators, who had the "right" to march--but the wounded soldiers. . .
Im one civilian who is willing to do time in the slammer for kicking the $h!t out of somone if I saw this today. I was only 13 when the VN war ended and wasnt in the position to do anything at the time. That was then and Im sure as SHOOTIN not 13 anymore.