CALIFORNIA BRIEFING

Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, canceled his plans to serve as grand marshal of the San Fernando Valley Veterans Day Parade because of the shootings at Ft. Hood.

Mullen was raised in North Hollywood and had been looking forward to joining veterans from his former stomping grounds, he said in an interview before Thursday’s shooting, which left 13 people dead and dozens wounded.

“He wanted to do it,” said a spokeswoman for Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Valley Village). “All things considered, I don’t think it would be appropriate for him to be . . . in a parade.”

Organizers said the parade would begin as scheduled at 11:11 a.m. at Laurel Canyon and San Fernando Mission boulevards. They are scrambling to find a substitute for Mullen.

-- Catherine Saillant