Patricia Smith, whose NYPD mom was killed on 9/11, shares emotional journey
Patricia Smith, now 27, visits the 9/11 Memorial in lower Manhattan last month. Credit: Randee Daddona
For nearly 25 years, Patricia Smith has been frozen in time as the little girl in the red dress.
She wore it on Dec. 4, 2001, when she was 2, as she toddled across the stage at Carnegie Hall, holding her father's hand, and accepted the Medal of Honor for her late mother.
Nearly three months earlier, NYPD Officer Moira Smith died while rescuing people from the World Trade Center. She was the only female NYPD officer killed while responding to the terrorist attacks.
The image of Patricia in her dress at the ceremony was published worldwide and instantly became a symbol of the tragedy; one that resonates to this day. As each anniversary passed, she became accustomed to the lights of cameras and questions from journalists.
Now she's 27 and pursuing a law degree from Fordham University. And she's come to terms with the truth that her relationship with Moira Smith is difficult for some to understand.
"I have been to funerals, been through the grieving process. ... I realized that that was not how I was grieving my mom, and it was a completely separate entity in itself — I was grieving a mother," Patricia said. The confidante; the one to talk to about boys, and about doing her hair.
"She was forced to grow up very early," said James Smith, her father and a retired NYPD officer.
Patricia has had an unusually close look inside the criminal justice system.
In May 2017, she went with her father to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. There, they watched pretrial hearings for detainees that U.S. officials have accused of coordinating the attacks. But the long-running prosecution has been marred by delays.
Now, she said, frustration is what she feels most.
"It seems like things only start really moving when there’s outcry, and not even around Sept. 11 is there any outcry anymore," Patricia said. "I want people to want justice that my family and I want."
Joseph Ostapiuk covers the Town of Oyster Bay and the city of Glen Cove. He joined Newsday in 2023 after spending more than six years at the Staten Island Advance.
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