Mark Bingham The mother of a gay man who was killed in the September 11 attacks has paid tribute to the intelligence community and US military, following the death of Osama bin Laden. Mark Bingham was killed when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a field Pennsylvania, after he and a group of passengers stormed the cockpit in an attempt to prevent the 747 from being flown into its intended target. His mother Alice Hoagland has reflected on bin Laden's demise on NBC's Today Show, saying "I think it is a point in time of which the American people can be very proud, which we can take stock in and realise how very valuable our intelligence community and our military are." Hoagland says she continues to be proud of her son and the other passengers in their work in redirecting Flight 93 from its intended target. "A little group of guys in the back of a pitching 747 that took a vote and decided they were going to run forward armed with nothing more than their fists and whatever they could find on board to fight real evil - people who were determined to kill them and anyone else they could on the ground." Hoagland also praised both President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush for their work into attempting to find bin Laden and bring him to justice. She says she is relieved bin Laden "has no one to face now except his God". During the 2008 presidential campaign, then-Republican presidential nominee John McCain, who delivered a eulogy at Bingham's funeral, told the Washington Blade he identified Bingham as one of his gay heroes.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 3rd May 2011 - 3:30pm