WEST POINT, N.Y. — The deaths of 22 people at a concert hall in Manchester, England, this week shows the need for institutions like the U.S. Military Academy to produce soldiers willing to battle those who would commit terrorism, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday.

"Manchester's tragic loss underscores the purpose of your years of study and training at this elite school," Mattis told the 950 graduating cadets at West Point. "We must never permit murderers to define our time or warp our sense of normal. This is not normal."

Twenty-two people were killed in a bombing at a concert hall in Manchester on Monday. Authorities say the 22-year-old bomber who struck the Ariana Grande concert was known to security services because of his radical views and had strong links to Libya.

"You will drive home a salient point," Mattis told the cadets. "That free men and women will volunteer to fight, ethically and fiercely, to defend our experiment that you and I call, simply, 'America.'"

This undated photo provided by the U.S. Army shows then-cadet Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Davis entered West Point in 1932 as its only black cadet and spent the next four years shunned. He roomed alone and ate alone. The future Tuskegee Airman and trailblazing Air Force general later wrote he was “an invisible man.” Now more than a decade after his death, the academy that ostracized Davis is honoring him. (U.S. Army Photo via AP)

United States Military Academy cadets hug after graduating, Saturday, May 27, 2017, in West Point, N.Y.

Photo Credit: Julie Jacobson/AP

The retired four-star Marine general became defense secretary Jan. 20, hours after President Trump was sworn in.

He spoke on a sun-drenched day at the military academy's football stadium in New York's Hudson Valley, but spoke of "storm clouds gathering" around the world.

Secretary of Defense James Mattis hands a graduating cadet his diploma while congratulating him during commencement ceremonies at the United States Military Academy, Saturday, May 27, 2017, in West Point, N.Y.

Photo Credit: Julie Jacobson/AP

"Our enemies are watching," he said. "By your commitment, you will prove the enemy wrong. Dead wrong."

He drew loud cheers when he added: "We Americans are not made of cotton candy."

Three brothers are among the cadets. Noah, Sumner and Cole Ogrydziak of Nederland, Texas, entered the academy in 2013. The last time three siblings graduated together was 1985.

Cadets toss their caps into the air after graduating from the United States Military Academy, Saturday, May 27, 2017, in West Point, N.Y.

Photo Credit: Julie Jacobson/AP

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