Twenty-five years ago, Jefferson County — like every community in America — stopped.
Churches filled on the evening of September 11, 2001, with people who had nowhere else to go. More than 200 residents gathered at Sahalee Park in Madras for a candlelight vigil, promoted almost entirely by word of mouth. The Madras Community Band played. Local firefighters, police, and EMS workers were honored. Flags went up on every corner of downtown. American flags appeared in storefront windows and on cyclone fences. The hurt was real — and so was the resolve.
Today, on the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Jefferson County pauses again — to honor the nearly 3,000 lives lost, the first responders who ran toward the towers, and a shared national wound that shaped an entire generation.
Veterans’ Golf Tournament at Crooked River Ranch
The Oregon Veterans Motorcycle Association is hosting its 24th Annual 9/11 Memorial Rally Golf Tournament today at Crooked River Ranch Golf Club, with registration opening at 8 a.m. and a shotgun start at 9 a.m. The event costs $100 per person with cart, with proceeds benefiting veterans and first responder causes.
The tournament has been held annually for most of the past two decades — a tradition that keeps the memory of September 11 woven into the fabric of Jefferson County civic life, and one that brings together veterans, active military, and civilian community members on a day that carries weight for all of them. The fact that it is now in its 24th year speaks to the staying power of that commitment.
How Jefferson County Responded in 2001
Historical accounts from the Madras Pioneer paint a vivid picture of how this community absorbed the shock of that September morning a quarter century ago.
Signs went up in storefronts urging unity. At Westside Elementary, fifth graders constructed a crepe-paper American flag across the front fence. Second graders tied red, white, and blue bows along the cyclone fencing. Jefferson County churches held impromptu prayer services the evening of the attacks, their pews filling with people seeking community in a moment of collective grief.
“More quiet resolve and determination was taking its place next to the hurt and anger September 11 wrought.” — Madras Pioneer, September 19, 2001
Two days after the attacks, residents across Madras were startled awake in the early morning hours by the roar of low-flying military jets passing overhead during the national airspace shutdown. The Warm Springs Police Department called the Madras Airport to explain. Airport operators Don and Linda Mobley said the aircraft “woke all of Madras.”
Twenty-Five Years Later
The 25th anniversary has prompted renewed national reflection on the lasting impact of September 11 — on foreign policy, on civil liberties, on the generation of veterans who served in its wake, and on the communities of first responders who are still dealing with health consequences from Ground Zero.
In Jefferson County, that reflection is also local and personal. The firefighters, EMTs, law enforcement officers, and veterans who call this county home carry that history with them — in their training, in their service, and in the way they show up for this community year after year.
Today’s golf tournament at Crooked River Ranch Golf Club is open to the community. Contact the Oregon Veterans Motorcycle Association for registration details. Flags at Jefferson County public buildings are flying at half-staff in observance of the anniversary.
Never Forgotten
Whatever form today’s remembrance takes — a round of golf on behalf of veterans, a moment of silence at the start of the workday, a conversation with a child about why today matters — Jefferson County is, as it was 25 years ago, part of something larger than itself.