Election Section

LOS ANGELES — Brimming with a renewed sense of patriotism and respect for the military, Americans across the country are turning out this holiday to honor veterans and remember the heroes from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. 

Many say they are attending Veterans Day celebrations with a new kind of pride and veterans say they are enjoying more respect. Speakers are drawing special attention to Americans fighting in Afghanistan and the firefighters and police officers who died in the World Trade Center. 

“I think it’s a different response and more respect for veterans because of what happened September the 11th,” Councilman Nate Holden said after attending a ceremony at the Veterans Affairs hospital in West Los Angeles. “The average person, including the veterans, is becoming more appreciative.” 

At a song-filled ceremony Friday in Hollywood Hills, firefighters and police officers sat prominently on the stage next to a plaque memorializing the Sept. 11 attacks. 

Barbara Alderson Raga brought her 12-year-old daughter, Suzie, to the ceremony at Forest Lawn Memorial Park for the first time. 

“I think certainly in the context of what’s going on in the world, this is of great interest,” Raga said as she gazed up at World War II fighter planes in the Condor Squadron flying over. 

In O’Fallon, Mo., as many as 1,500 people are expected Sunday for the dedication of a new veterans’ memorial that consists of a “platoon” of bronze boots. 

Veterans said they weren’t anticipating so many participants before Sept. 11. 

Sheldon Hartsfield, president of the Mid Rivers chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, said he is greeted warmly when he’s out in public these days, and is thanked more strongly for his service when he appears on behalf of veterans’ groups. 

Wallace Levin, chairman of San Francisco’s Veterans Day parade, said he expected this year’s event to one of the biggest ever. 

“I think that Veterans Day has never been as important as it is this year,” he said. “I just hope it helps the morale of our troops and our people. The front lines this time are not just in Afghanistan, they are in New York and Washington. The war is in America.”