WASHINGTON  --  President Barack Obama says the U.S. is safer and its people resilient on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Obama and first lady Michelle Obama laid a wreath at the Pentagon, one of several official observances marking the suicide hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.

Aided by a Marine honor guard, Obama placed a white floral wreath on a metal stand above a concrete slab that said "Sept. 11, 2001 - 9:37 am." A moment of silence began at precisely 9:37 a.m.

In remarks at the Pentagon, Obama recalled a day "when grief crashed over us like an awful wave."

Later Tuesday, the president was to visit wounded soldiers and their families at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

Gannett