Former U.S. Marine Scott Olsen, shown in this undated photograph, who was injured during clashes between police and anti-Wall Street protesters in Oakland, has been released from the hospital, two friends said on November 11, 2011. 
 
 LOS ANGELES | 
 
 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former U.S. Marine Scott Olsen, whose injury during clashes between Oakland police and protesters last month galvanized the Anti-Wall Street movement, has been released from the hospital, friends said on Friday. 
 
 "He is out of the hospital as of yesterday or today, thank goodness," Adele Carpenter, 29, told Reuters. 
 
 Iraq Veterans Against the War spokeswoman Dottie Guy also confirmed Olsen's release to Reuters. 
 
 Olsen is focused on healing right now, Carpenter told Reuters, but she added that "he is following the Occupy protests closely, as well as the vets march against police brutality today." 
 
 "He sent words of affirmation to friends during the Oakland General Strike and has been excited to hear stories from people who could attend," she said. 
 
 Occupy Oakland organizers say Olsen, 24, was hit in the head by a tear gas canister fired by police during a downtown Oakland confrontation on October 25. He was admitted to a local hospital in critical condition. 
 
 Acting Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan has opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Olsen's injury but police and city have not said how they believe the Iraq veteran was injured. 
 
 More than two weeks later, Olsen was released from inpatient care in time to celebrate Veteran's Day, Carpenter wrote in a blog post on a website for the group Veterans for Peace. 
 
 The Iraq veteran was "still struggling with speech, but is attempting conversations without having the writing instrument out," on which he had been relying to communicate, Carpenter said in the blog post. 
 
 Word of Olsen's injury reinvigorated the Occupy Wall Street movement across the country, shifted its focus away from New York to Oakland and broadened its aims to include opposing police brutality. 
 
 Activists in Oakland and elsewhere took to the streets en masse following his hospitalization, holding candlelight vigils and marches in his honor. 
 
 Olsen served two tours in Iraq, working as a technician and earning a handful of service medals. 
 
 Friends say he soured on military life after leaving the service started a now-defunct website called "I hate the Marine Corps" that served as a forum for disgruntled servicemen. 
 
 Olsen received an "administrative discharge" from the service in late 2009, his uncle George Nygaard has said, though the precise reasons for it have not been confirmed. 
 
 Such a discharge can result from any number of behavioral or disciplinary issues. 
 
 (Reporting by Mary Slosson; Editing by Greg McCune and Tim Gaynor) ||||| A soldier kneels with an American flag in front of a candle-lit memorial in support of Scott Olsen at City Hall in Oakland October 27, 2011. 
 
 Candles surround a picture of Scott Olsen at a vigil in his honor at City Hall in Oakland, October 27, 2011. 
 
 A man writes by candle light at a vigil in support of Scott Olsen at City Hall in Oakland, October 27, 2011. 
 
 Candles sit in front of photos of Scott Olsen at a vigil in his honor at City Hall in Oakland, California, October 27, 2011. 
 
 Hundreds of people hold a vigil in support of Scott Olsen at City Hall in Oakland, October 27, 2011. 
 
 Occupy Oakland protester Scott Olsen, a former U.S. Marine and Iraq war veteran, lies on the street after being injured during a demonstration in Oakland, California October 25, 2011. 
 
 Occupy Oakland protester Scott Olsen, a former U.S. Marine and Iraq war veteran, lies on the street after being injured during a demonstration in Oakland, California October 25, 2011. 
 
 Occupy Oakland protester Scott Olsen, a former U.S. Marine and Iraq war veteran, is carried away after being injured during a demonstration in Oakland, California October 25, 2011. 
 
 People light candles at a vigil in support of Scott Olsen at City Hall in Oakland, California, October 27, 2011. O 
 
 People hold candles and a picture of Scott Olsen during a vigil at City Hall in Oakland October 27, 2011. 
 
 OAKLAND, Calif An Iraq war veteran badly wounded in clashes between protesters and police on the streets of Oakland was awake and lucid, hospital officials and family members said on Thursday. 
 
 Scott Olsen, a 24-year-old former U.S. Marine struck in the head during Wall Street protests on Tuesday night, had been upgraded from critical to fair condition overnight. 
 
 Olsen's injury has become a rallying cry for the Occupy Wall Street movement nationwide, and Oakland organizers said they would stage a general strike over what a spokeswoman called the "brutal and vicious" treatment of protesters, including the young Iraq war veteran. 
 
 At the downtown plaza where he was hurt, several hundred supporters turned out Thursday night for a candlelight vigil in which fellow activists from a group called Iraq War Veterans for Peace addressed the crowd. One drew loud cheers when he said the police chief or mayor should resign. 
 
 Olsen "responded with a very large smile" to a visit from his parents, Highland General Hospital spokesman Warren Lyons said at a late-afternoon press conference on Thursday. 
 
 "He's able to understand what's going on. He's able to write and hear, but has a little difficulty with his speech," Lyons said. 
 
 He said doctors had not operated on Olsen yet and were waiting to see if swelling in his brain eased. 
 
 Olsen's aunt, Kathy Pacconi, told Reuters in an email that her nephew was showing signs of improvement. 
 
 "I believe he knew his mom and dad were there, and tomorrow he'll be really happy to see his sister, Melissa, because they are really close. Hopefully, he'll start to improve with her visit," Pacconi said. 
 
 Occupy Oakland organizers said their strike, scheduled for next Wednesday, was intended to shut down the city. 
 
 'SHUT THE CITY DOWN' 
 
 "We mean nobody goes to work, nobody goes to school, we shut the city down," organizer Cat Brooks said. "The only thing they seem to care about is money and they don't understand that it's our money they need. We don't need them, they need us." 
 
 Spokeswomen for the city of Oakland and Mayor Jean Quan could not be reached for comment. 
 
 Brooks said a general strike was a "natural progression" following a crackdown by the city of Oakland early on Tuesday morning in which protesters were evicted from a plaza near city hall and 85 people were arrested. 
 
 Protesters sought to retake that plaza on Tuesday night and were repeatedly driven back by police using stun grenades and tear gas. It was during one of those clashes that protesters say Olsen was struck in the head by a tear gas canister fired by police. 
 
 The hospital has confirmed Olsen was hurt during the protest, but could not say how he was wounded. Acting Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan had told a news conference his department was investigating the incident. 
 
 He said police had fired tear gas and bean-bag projectiles when protesters defied orders to disperse. He also said that some demonstrators had pelted police with rocks and bottles. 
 
 Olsen is believed to be the most seriously wounded person yet in confrontations between police and activists since Occupy Wall Street protests began last month in New York. 
 
 News of his injury ignited a furor among supporters of the protests. Activists in Oakland and elsewhere took to Twitter and other social media urging demonstrators back into the streets en masse. 
 
 More than 1,000 protesters moved onto the streets of Oakland again on Wednesday night as police largely kept their distance. 
 
 At Thursday's vigil, Emily Yates, an Army veteran of two tours in Iraq, urged restraint by police and protesters. 
 
 "The police claim they were just doing their job. It's all of our job to think before we throw anything at each other," she said. 
 
 Steve Morse, 65, a Vietnam War veteran, drew a hearty cheer when he called for the resignation of either Police Chief Jordan or Mayor Quan, both widely criticized as having bungled the city's response to the Occupy Oakland movement. 
 
 The crowd roared back with gusto when a woman from the crowd later yelled out, "Where's our mayor?" 
 
 Organizers said Quan had been invited in an open letter to address the vigil, but she was not present. 
 
 Friends say Olsen had been active in several anti-war veterans groups and had joined Oakland protesters in a gesture of solidarity after learning of the police crackdown there. 
 
 Keith Shannon, 24, who said he served with Olsen in Iraq, told Reuters his friend suffered a two-inch skull fracture. 
 
 Olsen served two tours in Iraq from 2006 to 2010 with the 3rd battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Shannon said, adding that he and Olsen deployed together and were assigned to a tactical communications unit. 
 
 (Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb, Mary Slosson and Emmett Berg; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Jerry Norton)
– NYPD cops better watch it when they get tough with Occupy Wall Street protesters from now on, because the Marines are coming—to help protect the demonstrators. "I'm heading up there tonight in my dress blues," announced a Marine veteran in a message reposted by another anti-war vet on his Facebook page. "So far, 15 of my fellow Marine buddies are meeting me there, also in uniform. I didn't fight for Wall Street. I fought for America." The vet adds that his "true hope is that we, as veterans, can act as a first line of defense between the police and protesters. If they want to mace them, they will have to get through the effing Marine Corps first. Let's see a cop mace a bunch of decorated war vets." Marines and other vets have already been spotted in the growing movement. A photo posted on a protest tweet shows two Marines recently in an Occupy Wall Street demonstration. One holds a sign reading: "Second time I've fought for my country. First time I've known my enemy." The 1971 Army Infantry vet who reposted the Marine's message said he plans to be at the anti-corporate demonstration planned in Washington with "hundreds of my fellow veterans." Protests are planned throughout the week in New York and several other cities. (Click to see which celebrities are voicing their support.)