Some, unable to march any longer, rode in buses.

Others walked but were hunched over, the ravages of years bearing down on once-strong shoulders.

Still others, a generation or two or three younger, stepped more lively if not more proudly.

Together, the region's veterans who strode or rode the streets of Downtown yesterday in the 89th annual Veterans Day Parade returned with humble gratitude the salutes and waves and applause that a diverse audience offered to express thanks for their service and sacrifice.

At times, the mood was emotional. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month -- exactly 90 years from the moment when World War I ended -- a bugler from the Plum High School Band played taps. A middle-aged man in a brown hooded sweatshirt dabbed tears from his eyes. He was not alone.

Overall, the mood along the route from Mellon Arena to the Hilton Pittsburgh hotel was celebratory, respectful and thankful of the service rendered the country.

Parade-goers, some waving American flags, lauded them all, from veterans of the war in Iraq with fresh faces to World War II vets, their hair now silver, their numbers dwindling by about 1,000 men daily; from those who served in the mountains of Korea to the jungles of Vietnam; from Gold Star Parents to Disabled American Veterans to Paralyzed Veterans of America; from members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion to high schoolers in junior ROTC programs.

Army Brig. Gen. Gregory E. Couch, the parade's grand marshal, thanked the crowd for its support. It means so much to those who served, he noted, as well as those who continue to do so in Iraq and Afghanistan on yet another Veterans Day, which originally was conceived to commemorate the end of the "war to end all wars."

High-spirited high school bands added to the patriotic atmosphere, playing the official songs of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "God Bless America."

After 75 minutes, the last unit passed by the reviewing stand. The crowd dispersed.

"It was a good parade," a woman said into a cell phone.

Indeed, it was.