EPHRATA — A crowd of about 500 people lined the streets of Ephrata Friday for the 20th annual Veterans Day Parade put on by the American Legion. Veterans of a wide range of ages and all branches of the service marched down First Street and back up Basin to honor all those who had taken on the uniform and placed their lives between their country and danger.

Up until 20 years ago, Ephrata vets would participate in the Veterans’ Day parade in Wenatchee. But the drive was often treacherous in early November, said parade organizer Mike Montaney, and so the local Legion post decided to do its marching closer to home.

“It’s a chance for veterans to get out and appreciate other veterans,” said Henry “Hank” Severin, a 24-year Navy veteran who has attended all but one of the annual parades.

Veterans Day ceremonies are steeped in 100-year-old traditions reflecting World War I. The holiday was originally called Armistice Day, to mark the cease-fire that ended one of the bloodiest conflicts the world had ever seen and left nearly 39 million soldiers and sailors dead or wounded. The armistice was signed at 11 a.m. on November 11, or the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. In 1954 the name was changed in the United States to Veterans Day. In Britain and Canada, the day is celebrated as Remembrance Day.

The Ephrata parade began at 10:45, timing the march to arrive at the World War II memorial in front of the Ephrata Recreation Center at 11, when a line of riflemen fired a salute in honor of the men who fought that war. Bugler Richard Radder played “Taps” as onlookers saluted in emotional silence. The parade then continued on its loop back to the Grant County Courthouse, where the ceremony was repeated.

Marching along with the veterans were Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Campfire, the Civil Air Patrol and a Pathfinders group from Mattawa, according to Montaney.

The parade was followed by a luncheon at the American Legion Post to which all veterans were invited.

The parade theme, Montaney said, is the same every year because it’s true every year: “Freedom is not free. It is bought and paid for with the blood of America’s veterans.”