NEW YORK (AP)  President Trump said during a 9/11 ceremony at the Pentagon that the nation grieves for the people “who were murdered by terrorists” 16 years ago.

The president and first lady Melania Trump joined with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, members of his Cabinet and military personnel at the Pentagon to observe the anniversary of the attacks on the nation’s defense headquarters.

The president is issuing a warning to extremists, saying “America cannot be intimidated” and those who try will join the list of enemies “who dared to test our mettle.”

He says when America is united, “no force on earth can break us apart.”

The native New Yorker is observing the 9/11 anniversary for the first time as president. Nearly 3,000 people were killed when four hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and at a Pennsylvania field.

 

Vice President Mike Pence  addressed the family and friends of the victims of United Flight 93 and the hundreds of citizens attending the somber service in Pennsylvania.

Pence told the crowd he was in Washington as a member of Congress on 9/11. That’s where he learned a hijacked plane was heading to the U.S. Capitol and was only 12 minutes away. He says that was the longest 12 minutes of his life, but he soon learned the plane went down in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Thirty-three passengers and seven crew members were killed.

The ceremony started at 9:45 a.m., the time that federal investigators determined passengers decided to revolt against their four al-Qaeda hijackers, who ended up crashing the plane in a field 60 miles (96 kilometers) southeast of Pittsburgh.

Pence says those passengers might well have save his life.

Some Americans are marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by volunteering on service projects.

In New York City, shifts of volunteers gathered at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum to put together meals to be distributed to people in need locally, as well as those affected by hurricanes in Texas and Florida.

The co-founder of 9/11 Day, which pushed for Sept. 11 to become recognized as a national day of service, said, “We simply wanted something good to come from this day.”

Among the volunteers was 16-year-old Hillary O’Neill of Norwalk, Connecticut, who was born the day of the attacks. She said volunteering was a way to bring something positive to the day.

 

A 10-year-old boy who helped pull an unconscious kayaker to safety has posthumously been given an award named for a flight attendant aboard a hijacked jetliner that was flown into the World Trade Center.

Jaydon Dancy was named recipient of the Madeline Amy Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery on Monday at a Massachusetts Statehouse ceremony marking the 16th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Jaydon’s mother, Michelle, accepted the award.

Jaydon was playing on the Salem waterfront in August 2016 when he saw the kayaker capsize. He and an older woman swam out to pull the unconscious man from of the water.

Jaydon was struck and killed by a train in June.

Sweeney quietly provided ground crews with critical information about the terrorists aboard American Airlines Flight 11.