Thank you Mark Bingham - You Touched the World

This morning I received another 2996 tributee to meet and get to know, to pay honor and tribute to. I got very lucky with my second name in that there are hundreds of pages of information about Mark Bingham on the internet. I think that everyone has heard his name at least once, and everyone knows the part he played to save another tragedy from happening.

As a resident of Northern California, very near to where Mark was headed that day, I am even more touched by what he did to save us all. He saved us because he and three other brave Americans took on a plane full of terrorist hijackers. These men KNEW that they would not survive the fight, that in the end they would all go down together, but they put US, all of US first. An entire plane full of people gave themselves, to guarantee freedom, to guarantee that the plane they were on did not become a weapon of destruction against unsuspecting people on the ground. I am providing links to several of the pages established in Mark's memory. Please visit them and get to know this proud American, this brave man, this hero, this person that we would all have been proud to call family.

http://www.markbingham.org/
http://www.united93movie.com/index.php
http://www.flight93memorialsfb.com/
http://www.teambingham.org/
http://www.advocate.com/issue_letters.asp?id=849

Melissa Etheridge wrote the following song and dedicated it to Mark Bingham in 2004.

10:03 on a Tuesday morning
in the fall of an American dream
a man is doing what he knows is right
on flight 93

Loved his mom and he loved his dad
loved his home and he loved his man
but on that bloody Tuesday morning
he died and American

Now you cannot change this
You can't erase this
You can't pretend this is not the truth

Even though he could not marry
Or teach your children in our schools
Because who he wants to love
Is breaking your God's rules

He stood up on a Tuesday Morning
In the terror he was brave
And he made his choice and without a doubt
A hundred lives he must have saved

And the things you might take for granted
Your inalienable rights
Some might choose to deny him
Even though he gave his life

Can you live with yourself in the land of the free
And make him less of a hero than the other three
Well it might begin to change ya
In a field in Pennsylvania

Stand up America
Hear the bell now as it tolls
Wake up America
It's Tuesday Morning
Let's roll

Melissa Etheridge "Tuesday Morning"

At 9:44 am Eastern Time on 09/11/01 Mark called his mother to tell his plane had been hijacked. He also had the chance to tell her he Loved Her and that some of the passengers were going to try and take the plane back and prevent them from getting to their target. They did that. They didn't come home to us but I am sure they are being rewarded for all they did here to save us from an even greater tragedy.

Thank you Mark. We will always remember.

Cindi

(I intentionally did not reference Mark's sexual preference in this post. Not because of any bias or prejudice but because I didn't think it has any impact on remembering his amazing effect on us in relation to 9/11. He is a HERO, He is a man we should all respect, honor and pay tribute to.)