Mark Bingham

This article is about Mark Bingham of Flight 93. For the musician and producer, see Mark Bingham (musician).

Mark Bingham
Born	Mark Kendall Bingham May 22, 1970 (1970-05-22) Phoenix, Arizona
Died	September 11, 2001(2001-09-11) (aged 31) Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Cause of death	Plane crash
Nationality	American
Citizenship	American
Home town	Los Gatos, California
Height	6 ft 4 in
Weight	225 pounds (102 kg)

Mark Kendall Bingham (May 22, 1970 – September 11, 2001) was an American public relations executive who founded his own company, the Bingham Group. During the September 11 attacks in 2001 he was a passenger on board United Airlines Flight 93. Bingham died when the plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to foil the hijacking.

As a gay man, Bingham has been widely honored posthumously for having "smashed the gay stereotype mold and really opened the door to many others that came after him."

Education

Bingham attended Los Gatos High School. He was a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where he was president of his fraternity, Chi Psi. In college, he played for the UC Berkeley rugby union team and helped them win a string of national championships.

Rugby and business career

A large athlete at 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and 225 pounds (102 kg), Bingham also played for the gay-inclusive rugby union team San Francisco Fog RFC. In 2001 most of the Fog were novices to the game, but Bingham showed up anyway. He coached, cajoled, and crashed through their practices, and played No. 8 in their first two friendly matches. He also played in their first tournament (where he dislocated his shoulder early on). He taught his teammates his favorite rugby songs.

In May 2001, as a member of the Fog, he took part in the Washington D.C. Renegades Invitational Tournament. Although very few in number, most of the rugby teams extant at that time took part in the tournament. It was after the tournament that Gotham's Scott Glaessgen, who had been inspired by the tournament and who had been friends with Bingham since 1998, contacted him about forming a rugby team in New York City.

Bingham had recently opened a satellite office of his successful public relations firm in New York City and was spending more time on the East Coast. Bingham was excited about the possibility and over the summer the two men started planning the formation of a team, Gotham Knights.

On September 11, 2001, he boarded United Airlines Flight 93 at the last minute, on his way to San Francisco to be an usher in his fraternity brother Joseph Salama's wedding.

Death

Mark Bingham may have been one of the passengers who attempted to storm the cockpit of the hijacked airliner United Airlines Flight 93 to try to prevent al-Qaeda terrorists from using the plane as a part of the September 11 attacks. The target of the Flight 93 hijackers was reported to have been either the White House or U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C. Bingham made a brief airphone call to his mother, Alice Hoagland, shortly before the plane went down. Hoagland, a former flight attendant with United Airlines, later left a voicemail message on his cell phone, instructing her son to attempt to reclaim the aircraft^{[citation needed]} after it became apparent that Flight 93 was to be used in a fourth suicide attack.

Bingham was survived by his boyfriend of six years, Paul Holm, who said that Bingham had risked his life to protect the lives of others before 9/11. He had twice successfully protected Holm from attempted muggings, one at gunpoint. Holm described Bingham as a brave, competitive man, saying, "He hated to lose — at anything." He was even known to proudly display a scar he received after being gored at the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

Memorials

Bingham's name is located on Panel S-67 of the National September 11 Memorial’s South Pool, along with those of other passengers of Flight 93.

• U.S. Senators John McCain and Barbara Boxer honored him on September 17, 2001, in a ceremony for San Francisco Bay Area victims of the attacks, presenting a folded American flag to Paul Holm.
• The California Alumni Association of the University of California, Berkeley now annually awards the outstanding achievement of a young alumnus or alumna with the Mark Bingham Award for Excellence in Achievement at its Charter Gala each spring.
• The Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament (referred to as the Bingham Cup), a biennial international rugby union competition predominantly for gay and bisexual men, was established in 2002 in his memory.
• Bingham was posthumously awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award in 2002.
• Singer Melissa Etheridge dedicated the song "Tuesday Morning" in 2004 to his memory.
• At the National 9/11 Memorial, Bingham and other passengers from Flight 93 are memorialized at the South Pool, on Panel S-67, along with other passengers on Flight 93.
  

In the media

• ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 2 (2004), starring Jade Esteban Estrada
• United 93 (2006), portrayed by Cheyenne Jackson
• Flight 93 (2006), portrayed by Ty Olsson
• The Flight That Fought Back (2005), portrayed by Jason LeGrande

References

• Jon Barrett. Hero of Flight 93: Mark Bingham, Advocate Books, 2002. Biography. ISBN 1-55583-780-8.
• UNITED FLIGHT 93: On Doomed Flight, Passengers Vowed to Perish Fighting, New York Times, 13 September 2001.

External links

• Mark Bingham: a Tribute to a Wonderful Man, a Great Friend, a Loving Brother, and an American Hero.
• SFFOG.ORG Mark's rugby team, the S.F. Fog (Mark's Memorial page).
• Advocate Magazine article on Bingham.
• Daily Cal Article referencing Mark attacking Stanford tree.
• Mark Bingham Scholarship Fund.
• Official Website of The Bingham Cup.
• Team Bingham - Mark Bingham Scholarship fundraising Organization.
• Mark Bingham at the Internet Movie Database
• After September 11: Farewell to a Hero (California Monthly tribute).
• With You Film: The Mark Bingham Story
• Mark Bingham at Find a Grave

and individually at the Shanksville, Pennsylvania crash site

and the combined memorial at the Shanksville, Pennsylvania crash site