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As the United States sent ever greater numbers of combat forces to Vietnam, public opposition to the escalation of the war grew. In October of 1967, a coalition of anti-war groups, with a combined total of between 40,000 and 70,000 protesters, staged a mass demonstration in the Nation?s capitol. The "March on the Pentagon" sought to physically and symbolically surround the headquarters of the U.S. military. Fearful of civil disorder, the government, in addition to calling in 4,000 National Guard troops, "erected a high wire fence around the Pentagon reservoir, set up special arrest booths, supplied an extra 200 federal marshals to the 100 already here, and was making a traffic count on roads leading into Washington." In "Armies of the Night," novelist Norman Mailler recorded an interesting eye-witness account of this demonstration.

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