Spokane native Jeff Kusterer joined the Army in 1964, as he recalled, a “20-year-old, bright-eyed kid.”

The draft was just starting, his number was coming up, and he figured, might as well enlist first. After training, he went into Vietnam in 1967 with Special Forces. During the following three years, he would find himself in many a hostile spot in the field.

“One day we were on a mission with a small force,” Kusterer said, “and we ran into a (North Vietnamese Army) battalion. We spent about nine hours trading shots with each other before we were able to break contact, and enough air support came in to solve our problems.”

Experiences like that, Kusterer said, can be quite instructive.

“When the first bullet whizzes past you, it makes life rather important. It puts the fear of God into you, and you realize you’re not invincible,” Kusterer said.

On Saturday, Kusterer, now 64, stood on a sidewalk along East Main Street, taking in the sights and sounds of the Auburn Veterans Day parade. The graying soldier came to be honored and to do honor in turn.

The grand, two-hour-long parade down Main Street is one of the largest of its kind west of the Mississippi River ,featuring scores of Veterans groups – from the Inter-Tribal Warrior Society to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, from 12 veterans aboard a float honoring the U.S. Submarine Veterans of World War II – “Pride Runs Deep” – to the American Legion, from the Veterans of Foreign Wars to the Military Order of the Purple Heart, and many more.

To wild cheering and applause, active service members from the Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard stepped smartly alongside bands tootling patriotic melodies, a rolling display of military equipment and scores of elected officials, among them recently re-elected Gov. Christine Gregoire, and U.S. Congressman Dave Reichert.

Kusterer, who joined the Army Reserves after his active duty ended in 1970, served in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait during Desert Storm and retired in 1994 as a first sergeant.

He explained what the parade means to him.

“I get an opportunity to see other members of our community that served and gave up part of their regular life to support our country,” Kusterer said.

Ron Forest and his buddies caught the parade as it turned the corner of A Street Northwest and West Main Street. Forest served with the Navy Seabees in Vietnam from October 1966 to December 1967. He was stationed near Danang as part of a construction battalion attached to the Marines, building roads, airports, bridges and mess halls. He left the Navy in 1968 and returned to his old job as a carpenter.

Forest came to the parade to honor the veterans, but he had a few choice things to say about the war in Iraq.

“This parade is about memories of where we have been and where we are now, where we should be and where we shouldn’t be,” Forest said. “I and most of my chapter are against this war in Iraq. We think it’s asinine. We’ve got our pins on that say, ‘Bring ‘em home.’ You can’t ignore the situation.”

Jim Beal volunteered for the Army in 1971 because, he believed, it was the right thing to do. After training at Fort Lewis, he was shipped off to Vietnam where he was a foot soldier.

An old black-and-white shows him, a confident, even cocky-looking young guy, gripping a rifle outside a Vietcong thatch hut or hooch.

He left friends behind in Southeast Asia.

“I lost a good friend that I went through training with, David Allan Lydic. He was in the infantry like I was, he was in a helicopter that was shot down May 10, 1972 on his way to R and R out of the bush. Thirty other guys from Delta company all died in that. That was pretty bad,” Beal said.

But the military also opened up doors for the young man.

“I am 55 years old, and the military paid for my college, it helped me buy a couple of houses through life, got me my first job. There’s a lot of upside to it,” Beal said.

For many reasons, Beal said, Veterans Day means a lot to him.

“I think it’s a very good time to honor the service of all the guys throughout the years, the ones who did come back and the ones who didn’t,” Beal said. “People need to remember that a lot of people gave up a lot so that we have what we have in this country.

“We can walk down the street and nobody is asking for our papers,” he added. “Sure, we’ve got our problems, but I’ve been to third-world countries, and, boy, we’ve got it pretty good.”