American Indian military veterans from Texas to the Canadian border proudly marched through downtown Fresno to their own drumbeats Saturday, along with hundreds of other veterans in uniforms from World War II to the present.

Fresno's annual Veterans Day parade, which traces its roots back to 1919, is billed as the largest of its kind in the western United States. It lasted more than two hours and featured 22 marching bands among nearly 200 separate entries.

The American Indian veterans were dressed in military combat fatigues or traditional warrior garb. Some wore parts of dress uniforms with combat ribbons, flyers' wings and medals from one or more of the nation's conflicts.

Marine Corps veteran Cheeko Garcia, 72, an Apache from New Mexico, was invited to Fresno's parade by Porterville's Tule River tribe. Garcia said he chose to watch rather than march.

Although his combat service was in Korea, he knew several of the famed Navajo Code Talkers from World War II who were honored in a ceremony Friday.

"This is the way I show my respect to them," Garcia said. "They were also Marines."

After an opening ceremony in front of City Hall, a Marine color guard led the California State University, Fresno, band, which stepped out briskly playing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" with strains of "Dixie" mixed in.

They were followed by American Indians marching or riding on flatbed trucks.

The veterans, who earlier had snapped briskly to attention in military salutes to the U.S. flag, chanted while their own drummers thumped a steady beat.

Keith Rudolph, 59, of Fresno, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars who served in the Army in Vietnam, said Saturday was the first time he could recall so many American Indian veterans getting together for a parade.

Members of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a medal given to combat casualties, drew applause as they marched past.

"Above and beyond the call of duty," a spectator shouted.

Police estimated that 10,000 onlookers lined the parade route, undaunted by the chilly spattering of rain that started before the parade.

"We never asked our soldiers what kind of weather we wanted them to be out in," said spectator Rachel Vargas of Fresno.

Vargas said her father served in the U.S. Air Force. She brought her two children, ages 4 and 7, to the parade. She recalled a tradition that when "the anthem comes on, you better stand up and salute and remove your hat."

Michael Coit, 9, of Fresno said he likes the Marines because his dad was one.

He evaluated the parade near the halfway mark as: "Pretty good, so far."

Army nurse Capt. Carolyn Tanaka of Fresno, a Vietnam veteran, wore her olive-drab fatigue uniform and a Native American Veterans T-shirt.

"In honor of them, I wore this instead of my Vietnam T-shirt," Tanaka said.