09/03/2026
We are approaching the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. This reminds us of a Center Point connection many of you may not realize.
This is the story:
Don and Mary (Hoglan) Cook were farmers near Center Point. Mary was the beloved Home Economics teacher for over 30 years. Mary’s great-nephew, Mark Bingham, was a passenger on Flight 93 that fateful 9/11 morning. Shortly after the World Trade Center towers had been crashed into, hijackers took over Mark’s plane, herding passengers into the back of the plane.
Mark, a national championship winning rugby player, formed a plan with other passengers to take the plane back. Mark left a phone message “I want to let you guys know that I love you, in case I don’t see you again…I’m on United Airlines, flight 93. It’s being hijacked.”
The passenger team decided to storm the cockpit. The voice recorder tells us the hijacker shouts “Allahu akbar” (God is great) “Pull it down! Pull it down!”
One of the team storming the hijackers was Todd Beamer. Todd recited prayers and then said, “Are you ready? Okay. LET'S ROLL!" The plane crashed into an empty field in Pennsylvania. This was 20 minutes of flying time away from its suspected target, the White House or U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C. Everyone on board perished.
President Bush greeted Flight 93 victim’s families at the White House. Mark Bingham’s mother, Alice Hoglan and great aunt, Mary Cook as well as other family members attended. Mary at this time was 83 and passed away a few months later.
American’s lives were changed forever on that fateful day. Now, 25 years later, we stand in solidarity of the brave ones that stepped into action, in the face of death, to defeat evil. God Bless America!!
A side note: In 2019, at the annual Center Point Historical Society Cemetery Walk, Mark's mother, Alice, while telling her aunt Mary's life story, also shared the story of her beloved son, Mark Bingham. We will never forget you, we must keep history alive!
