The City Council speaker, Christine Quinn, an opponent of the war in Iraq, told high-ranking Navy and Marine Corps officers in town for Fleet Week that being around family members who were veterans had led her to admire America’s military.

Ms. Quinn’s father, Lawrence Quinn, served in the Navy during World War II and attended the breakfast with the officers at City Hall yesterday morning.

“When my father talked about being in World War II or when my grandfathers talked about being in World War I, they talked about it as if they had gone to the store to get a quart of milk — as if it was nothing,” Ms. Quinn said. She thanked the officers for their “selflessness” in spending many months away from their families while serving overseas.

Ms. Quinn said her and other New Yorkers’ political views did not detract from their feelings toward those protecting the country.

“A lot of people, myself included, have strong opinions about this war,” she said, “but we don’t want that to ever be confused with not having a tremendous debt of gratitude for all of you and everything you have done.”

The officers in attendance uniformly praised city residents for their hospitality.

Ryan Tillotson, the commander of the USS The Sullivans, a destroyer docked in the city over Fleet Week, said at the breakfast that he had been moved by the warm reception his crew experienced this week.

“I can’t count the number of times people have stopped us in the street and said, ‘Thank you for your service,'” he said. “That means a lot to us.”