Mark Bingham
Encyclopedia
Mark Kendall Bingham was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
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
United Airlines Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93 was United Airlines' scheduled morning transcontinental flight across the United States from Newark International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco International Airport in California. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the Boeing 757–222 aircraft operating the...
. Bingham died when the plane crashed into a field near Shanksville
Shanksville, Pennsylvania
Shanksville is a borough in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 245, as of the 2000 census. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area and is approximately 60 miles southeast from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
, Pennsylvania, after passengers attempted to foil the hijacking
Aircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
.
Education
Bingham attended Los Gatos High SchoolLos Gatos High School
Los Gatos High School is a high school in Los Gatos, California, a small town near San Jose in the Silicon Valley. Los Gatos High School was founded in 1908 and is part of the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District...
. He was a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, where he was president of his fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
, Chi Psi
Chi Psi
Chi Psi Fraternity is a fraternity and secret society consisting of 29 active chapters at American colleges and universities. It was founded on Thursday May 20, 1841, by 10 students at Union College with the idea of emphasizing the fraternal and social principles of a brotherhood...
. In college, he played for the UC Berkeley rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team and helped them win a string of national championships.
Rugby and business career
A large athlete at 6 in 4 in (1.93 m) and 225 pounds (102.1 kg), Bingham also played for the 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 rugbyRugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
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
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
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
Gotham Knights
The Gotham Knights Rugby Football Club is a division III men's club in the Metropolitan New York Rugby Union. Their home pitch is on Randall's Island, between the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx...
.
On September 11, 2001, he boarded United Airlines Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93 was United Airlines' scheduled morning transcontinental flight across the United States from Newark International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco International Airport in California. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the Boeing 757–222 aircraft operating the...
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 93United Airlines Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93 was United Airlines' scheduled morning transcontinental flight across the United States from Newark International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco International Airport in California. On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the Boeing 757–222 aircraft operating the...
to try to prevent al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
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
United Airlines
United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees United Air Lines, Inc., is the world's largest airline with 86,852 employees (which includes the entire holding company United Continental...
, later left a voicemail message on his cell phone, instructing her son to attempt to reclaim the aircraft after it became apparent that Flight 93 was to be used in a fourth suicide attack
Suicide attack
A suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
.
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. 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
Pamplona
Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...
, Spain.
At the National 9/11 Memorial, Bingham is memorialized at the South Pool, on Panel S-67.
Memorials
- U.S. Senators John McCainJohn McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
and Barbara BoxerBarbara BoxerBarbara Levy Boxer is the junior United States Senator from California . A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives ....
honored him on September 17, 2001, in a ceremony for San Francisco Bay AreaSan Francisco Bay AreaThe San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
victims of the attacks, presenting a folded American flag to Paul Holm. - The California Alumni Association of the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
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 TournamentMark Kendall Bingham Memorial TournamentThe Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament or the Bingham Cup is a biennial international, non-professional, gay rugby union tournament, first held in 2002...
(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 AwardArthur Ashe Courage AwardThe Arthur Ashe Courage Award is an award that is part of the ESPY Awards. Although it is a sport-oriented award, it is not limited to sports-related people or actions.-List of recipients:-External links:***...
in 2002. - Singer Melissa EtheridgeMelissa EtheridgeMelissa Lou Etheridge is an American rock singer-songwriter and musician.Etheridge is known for her mixture of confessional lyrics, pop-based folk-rock, and raspy, smoky vocals...
dedicated the song "Tuesday Morning" in 2004 to his memory.
In the media
- ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 2 (2004), starring Jade Esteban EstradaJade Esteban EstradaJade Esteban Estrada is a successful Latin pop singer, comedian, choreographer, actor, political commentator, and human rights activist...
- United 93United 93 (film)United 93 is a 2006 fact-based historical drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Greengrass that chronicles events aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked during the September 11 attacks...
(2006), portrayed by Cheyenne JacksonCheyenne JacksonCheyenne Jackson is an American actor and singer. He started in regional theater when he moved to Seattle, and after moving to New York City, made his 2002 Broadway theatre debut understudying both male leads in the Tony Award-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie... - Flight 93Flight 93 (TV film)Flight 93 is a 2006 made-for-TV film, directed by Peter Markle, which chronicles the events aboard United Airlines Flight 93 during the September 11 attacks...
(2006), portrayed by Ty OlssonTy OlssonTyler "Ty" Olsson is a Canadian actor. He's best known for being the voice of the dragon Ord on Dragon Tales and for portraying real life 9/11 victim Mark Bingham in the A&E television movie Flight 93.-Life and career:... - The Flight That Fought BackThe Flight that Fought BackThe Flight That Fought Back is a documentary film produced by the London-based company Brook Lapping Productions for the Discovery Channel about United Airlines Flight 93...
(2005), portrayed by Jason LeGrande
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.
- After September 11: Farewell to a Hero (California Monthly tribute).
- With You Film: The Mark Bingham Story