9/11 Hero's Widower Returns Glamour Award After Caitlyn Jenner Wins Same Honor
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/CBS News) -- When Glamour Magazine named Caitlyn Jenner one of their Women of the Year winners for 2015, James Smith was angry.
So angry in fact, that Smith -- the widower of fallen 9/11 hero and former Women of the Year winner, NYPD Officer Moira Smith -- FedExed the award back to Glamour in response to Jenner's nomination, according to CBS News.
Smith wrote an open letter to the magazine, which was posted on his Facebook page.
CBS News quoted Smith in the letter:
"I was shocked and saddened to learn that Glamour has just named Bruce Jenner 'Woman of the Year.' 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 ... is this the best you could do?"
Glamour named Smith as one of the Women of the Year winners posthumously in 2001, CBS News reported. Moira died on Sept. 11 while helping dozens of people escape to safety. She was 38.
Smith has been honored several times for her efforts by members of the New York City community. In 2013, NY Waterway renamed one of their ferries the "Moira Smith" to represent the 23 total NYPD officers killed in the attacks.
The 13th Precinct dedicated a plaque to Smith, and later presented her family with a portrait.
On their website, Glamour touted Jenner as "the transgender champion" for coming out as a transgender woman earlier this year. She received the award on Nov. 9 alongside other nominees like Reese Witherspoon, Victoria Beckham, Cecile Richards and Misty Copeland.
Jenner also received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award for bravery in July.