Husband of 9/11 Hero Cop Returns Woman of the Year Award Over Caitlyn Jenner
By Lauretta Brown | November 16, 2015 | 2:43 PM EST
Caitlyn Jenner (AP Photo)
(CNSNews.com) – James Smith, widower of cop Moira Smith who died evacuating people from the World Trade Center on 9/11, returned his wife’s 2001 Woman of the Year award announcing on Thursday that Glamour magazine awarding Caitlyn (formerly Bruce) Jenner with the same title this year was “insulting” to his wife’s memory and “the memory of other heroic women who have earned this award.”
Smith, also a retired NYPD cop, wrote a scathing letter to Glamour, which he posted on his Facebook page.
“On October 29th, 2001 I was honored to accept the Glamour Magazine ‘Woman of the Year Award’ posthumously given to my wife, Police Officer Moira Smith. Moira was killed on September 11th, 2001 while rescuing thousands from the World Trade Center,” Smith wrote. “EMT Yamel Merino was also posthumously honored that evening for her heroism.”
“I was shocked and saddened to learn that Glamour has just named Bruce Jenner ‘Woman of the Year.’ I find it insulting to Moira Smith's memory, and the memory of other heroic women who have earned this award.” Smith emphasized.
“Was there no woman in America, or the rest of the world, more deserving than this man?” Smith asked. “At a time when we have women in the armed forces fighting and dying for our country, heroic doctors fighting deadly diseases, women police officers and firefighters putting their lives on the line for total strangers, brave women overcoming life threatening diseases…the list of possibilities goes on…is this the best you could do?”
“I can only guess that this was a publicity stunt meant to resuscitate a dying medium,” Smith concluded. “After discussing this slap in the face to the memory of our Hero with my family, I have decided to return Moira's award to Glamour Magazine.”
A spokesman for Glamour magazine confirmed to The New York Post that it received Smith’s letter.
“We were proud to honor his wife . . . in 2001, and we stand by our decision to honor Caitlyn Jenner,” a Glamour spokeswoman told the Post on Saturday. “Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards recognize women with a variety of backgrounds and experiences.”
Glamour’s 2015 Women of the Year awards went to Victoria Beckham, Misty Copeland, Elizabeth Holmes, Caitlyn Jenner, Cecile Richards, Reese Witherspoon, the Women of Charleston, and the U.S. women’s national soccer team.
