www.miami.com/c/community/people/gay_and_lesbian/natdocs/022753.htm

Posted at 3:47 p.m. EDT Thursday, September 27, 2001

``I love my country," the former Republican presidential candidate told mourners, ``and I take pride in my service but I cannot say I love it more or as well as Mark Bingham did or the other heroes on Flight 93."

The memorial was held in Wheeler Hall at the University of California, Berkeley. Bingham, 31, was a devoted UC alumnus and a huge fan of the CAL Bears football team. Bingham owned his own public relations company and traveled often between his offices in San Francisco and New York.

McCain was invited to speak because he was a personal hero to Bingham. The two met briefly and were photographed together during a presidential campaign function last year. McCain was introduced by Bingham's former partner of 6 years, Paul Holm.

``Mark and I talked about politics a lot and I know how much Mark held Sen. McCain in such high esteem and truly high regard," Holm told those gathered.

``I didn't know Mark Bingham," said McCain at the start of his talk. ``We met briefly during the presidential campaign and I can't say I knew him well but I wish I had.

``It is now believed that the terrorists on Flight 93 intended to fly the plane into the United States Capitol where I work, the great house of democracy where I was that day. I very well may owe my life to Mark Bingham and the others who summoned the enormous amount of courage and love necessary to deny those depraved hateful men their terrible triumph. Such a debt we will incur for life. I will try very hard to discharge my public duties in a manner that honors their memory."

McCain said America is committed to justice and he decried those who have suggested that the U.S. brought the attack on itself. At a San Francisco remembrance service days earlier, former San Francisco supervisor Rev. Amos Brown suggested that the United States may have encouraged the attack by its foreign policy. Brown's remarks prompted Holm to walk out of that service.

``Pay no heed to the voices of the poor misguided souls in this country and overseas who claim that America brought these atrocities on herself," said McCain. ``They are deluded and their hearts are cramped by hatred. Our respect for man's God-given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness assures us a victory even as this made us a target for the enemies of freedom."

In closing, McCain said he considers Bingham one of his personal heroes.

``He supported me and his support is now among the greatest honors of my life. I wish I had known before Sept. 11 just how great an honor his trust in me was. I wish I could have thanked him more profusely as time and circumstances allowed but I do now and I thank him by the only means I possess, by being as good of an American as he was.

``America will overcome these atrocities. We will prevail over our enemies. We will right this terrible injustice. We will do it as a tribute to liberty and to Mark Bingham and to all those who died to defend it. To all of you who loved Mark, he will never be so far from you that you cannot feel his love. God bless Mark and God bless us all."

McCain was followed by Bingham's mother, Alice Hoglan, who said that her son's spirit of teamwork helped him and other passengers overtake the hijackers.

``We can be grateful and proud that in that final grim and brutal competition, that team gained a generous victory," she said.

The memorial included two slide shows of pictures, quotes, and memories of Bingham.

Bingham was one of 44 people on Flight 93 when it crashed in a field in Pennsylvania Sept. 11. Earlier that morning, three other planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. Bingham, along with Tom Burnett, 38, of San Ramon and New Jersey residents Todd Beamer, 32 and Jeremy Glick, 31, are believed to have spearheaded an effort to fight back against the hijackers who took over the plane.

McCain is one of more than a dozen senators who is cosponsoring a bill that would award all those on Flight 93 with the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress' highest civilian honor.

Holm had high praise for McCain and said he was impressed by his sincerity during the service.

``He was grabbing my leg to make sure I was OK," Holm told Bay Windows in an interview this week. ``I can't tell you how kind he was to me and how genuinely concerned he was for Alice [Hoglan] and me.

Holm said he remembers well the day Bingham met McCain.

``He was so excited afterwards," said Holm. ``It was a very small meeting and they got to spend a lot of time together. Before that I wouldn't say he was apolitical but he wasn't drawn to many politicians but the reason I think he liked Sen. McCain so much is because of what he had done in the Vietnam War in terms of heroics and patriotism which is very much a part of Mark and his family. Also, I think he thought Sen. McCain was a straight shooter and said what he thought. I know Mark thought that wasn't very typical of politics.

``Mark was an Independent leaning Republican," noted Holm. ``He was liberal on some things and conservative on economics, so there was some appeal there but it was mostly the personal characteristics of the Senator."

McCain opposes gay marriage and is a supporter of the ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy. But during the presidential campaign last year, a Human Rights Campaign spokesman told USA Today that McCain was ``probably the least antigay" of all the Republican candidates.

Holm said Bingham was drawn to McCain primarily because of McCain's character, not on how pro-gay he was.

``That's something that's getting misrepresented here," said Holm. ``Mark was gay but that's not how he picked people."