Dozens of protesters gathered outside a gas station near Bogalusa on Thursday to voice their outrage over what they consider an insult to Americans in uniform.Exactly what happened to spark the furor isn't clear.The protest followed a fast-moving campaign on social media that spread the word about a member of the National Guard who was reportedly refused service at the station. The Washington Parish Sheriff's Office confirmed that some sort of dispute did take place, but the office did not have details and no report was filed.By late afternoon, a crowd of about two-dozen people - some with signs, others with flags - had formed at the Texaco station. It doubled in size as dusk approached.Deputies from the sheriff's office kept watch over the situation, which remained orderly.WDSU spoke with Chris Carnegie, a witness to the original incident. He said he saw a man in uniform turned away when he attempted to make a purchase this past weekend."The guy behind the counter told him they didn't serve his kind," Carnegie said. "The soldier just looked at him and said, 'That's bull (expletive),' and walked out."He told a few people what he saw, and the story began to spread on Facebook. On Thursday, the outrage really took off."This store hates America and our troops," read one poster being displayed just off the station's property. "Honk for our troops," said another."This is a supportive town of the military," Michael Van Slyke, 62, said.Van Slyke, a Vietnam veteran, said he came out to make a statement."The servicemen are over there fighting for us, our country here, and dying, and the way they're being treated is not right," Van Slyke said."These guys, they've done for us, and we're here showing our support," John Jones said."I just think it's wrong, because he's over there fighting for our freedom and trying to help those people, and we're giving them freedom to come to our United States to do whatever they want. But they are taking advantage of it and slapping our soldiers in the face for trying to help them out," Nicole Corkern said.When the crowd grew, the station closed down for the day.WDSU attempted to reach the owner of the station and convenience store and spoke with a woman who, in broken English, said she was the owner's wife and the incident was all a misunderstanding. She said the station does not refuse service to anybody, and that there might have been a language barrier that caused a miscommunication. For that, she apologized.The woman - who identified herself as an ethnic Indian - did not want to appear on camera.A spokesperson for Chevron, which owns Texaco, said he believed the station on Highway 10 was privately owned and operated and issued the following statement Thursday night:"We do not tolerate any form of discrimination at our own facilities or at independently owned and operated stations that operate under the Chevron or Texaco Brands. Chevron takes any allegation of discrimination or misconduct very seriously. Our core values include treating everyone with dignity and respect. Once our investigation is completed, we will take any appropriate action."WDSU has been unable to contact the guardsman whose encounter triggered the protest movement.In recent years, claims that stores or service stations have turned away members of the military have become common internet fodder. Those emails and blog posts - often debunked - typically involve a clerk or owner who is of foreign descent.One store patron told WDSU he wasn't surprised to see the emotional response to the Bogalusa claims."People are quick to jump on something like this," David Carpenter said. "Anything anti-American, anti-military, they just jump on it and they lash out so crazy... and we've got police officers all out here now, and these people, they can barely run their business."