Outraged husband of 9/11 hero returns 'Woman of the Year' award over Jenner

NEW YORK (Christian Examiner) – James Smith, widower of Moira Smith, a police officer who died rescuing others from the south tower during the 2001 attacks on the New York World Trade Centers, FedExed his wife's Woman of the Year award back to Glamour magazine.

He was outraged the award this year was given to Bruce Jenner, who changed his name to Caitlyn after having sex-change operations earlier this year.

Smith said giving the award to Jenner insulted his wife's memory.

"I was shocked and saddened to learn that Glamour has just named Bruce Jenner 'Woman of the Year,'" said Smith to the magazine, according to the New York Post. "I find it insulting to Moira Smith's memory, and memory of other heroic women who have earned this award."

Smith, also a police officer of New York, was appalled that the magazine could think of no female recipient more deserving than Jenner, a male.

"Was there no woman in America, or the rest of the world, more deserving than this man? At a time when we have women in the armed forces fighting and dying for our country, heroic doctors fighting deadly diseases, women police and firefighters putting their lives on the line for total strangers, brave women overcoming life threatening diseases .?.?. the list of possibilities goes on .?.?."

GLAMOUR UNAPOLOGETIC

Glamour told the New York Post it was not sorry to have honored Jenner, whom it lauded as a transgender champion. "We were proud to honor his [Smith's] wife .?.?. in 2001, and we stand by our decision to honor Caitlyn Jenner," said a magazine spokeswoman. "Glamour's Women of the Year Awards recognize women with a variety of backgrounds and experiences."

The award, given on Nov. 9 by Glamour Editor-in-Chief Cindi Leive, honors "trailblazers and newsmakers from across the worlds of entertainment, fashion, politics, business, and more," according to the magazine.

"Since 1990, Glamour's Women of the Year Awards have saluted the planet's most remarkable female leaders, and tonight's winners are no exception," said Leive. "They have been inspired and led by the generations of Women of the Year before them, and Glamour is thrilled to celebrate their passion."

Her husband does not believe Smith to be the equal of celebrity "trailblazers and newsmakers."

He asked Glamour, "Is this the best you could do?"

MOIRA SMITH

A 9/11 survivor who was one of the last to see Moira Smith alive said she was helping panicked people escape from the tower. "Moira stood at the end of the ramp directing the traffic down the escalator," wrote Martin Glynn.

"She had her flashlight in her right hand and she was waving it like a baton. She was repeating over and over -- 'Don't look! Keep Moving.'" Smith prevented Glynn and others from pausing to take in the horror by shielding them from the carnage and ordering them to exit.

"The mass of people exiting the building felt the calm assurance that they were being directed by someone in authority who was in control of the situation," said Glynn. "Her actions even seemed ordinary, even commonplace. She insulated the evacuees from the awareness of the dangerous situation they were in, with the result that everything preceded smoothly."

Glynn called for a statue of Moira Smith with her flashlight to be raised in the city because he believes she may have saved more lives than anyone else.