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“Researching Moira Smith, the only female NYPD officer to die in the line of duty on 9/11, was one of the most moving experiences for me,” says Cheryl Mullenbach, who profiled Smith in the YA collective biography Women in Blue. “Interviewing her close friends, husband, and 16-year-old daughter (who was only 2 at the time of Moira’s death), was heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time.”
In advance of the 15th anniversary of 9/11, we share Moira Smith’s story.
Excerpted from Women in Blue: 16 Brave Officers, Forensics Experts, Police Chiefs, and More by Cheryl Mullenbach. Check out our full interview with Cheryl.
8 Comments
What a beautiful person inside & out, rest in peace Officer Moira.
No Greater Love……….My dad was killed in Normandy in combat during World War 2. Where does this
courage and dedication to duty come from? I think about my dad often but have no conscious memory
of him. But we can pray for the souls of our heroes.
Bless you Officer Moira. I’ll Never forget your bravery and selflessness during one of the most, if not the most horrific and savage events of modern times. Prayers to your friends and family who carry on your memory. A special prayer to the survivors she was able to help and also to the poor souls who perished alongside her.
I have just finished reading the book ‘Sully’ about the pilot who landed his plane in the Hudson. He mentions one of the ferries that came to rescue the survivors was named the Moira Smith. It struck a cord as it’s my mother’s name, so I googled her. What an amazing, brave lady and so sad to hear she left a 2 year old daughter behind. Sadly my own mum passed away in Scotland in 1995 aged only 52 from cancer.
But i just wanted police officer Moira Smith’s family to know her story has touched another life and I wish them well.
Moira ,, Rest in Peace from a Brother in Blue. Your heroic actions on the sad day are in the Finest Traditions of the Police across the Globe.
You will always be remembered. My God bless you and keep you…44 pct.
Moira Smith, you did your job with great courage and in admirable fashion! May you rest in Peace! I have a special note for Patricia Smith. Patricia, I am most empathetic with your situation because I, too, lost my mother at age two. I an an aged man now, in my eighties, but I have loved my Mother Uda all my life, and I am certain that she loved me also while she lived. I am certain that your mother loved you with all her heart also. We cannot change the past, but we can live in the future, and that is what our Mothers would want for us! May God bless your life and keep you and your family safe from all harm! I send my best wishes and kindest regards to you! From an unknown friend, P.Clark Strahin.
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