Tom Witt, associate dean for research and outreach at West Virginia Universitys College of Business and Economics, clearly remembers his last image of New York City.


Dr. Witt recalls seeing dark smoke rising from the ruins of Manhattan and draping the city skyline. In the foreground stood the silhouette of the proud Statue of Liberty.


“I remember thinking �€~Oh, the humanity,”Witt said, alluding to the famous exclamation by radio reporter Herbert Morrison during a live broadcast of the Hindenburg disaster in 1937.


On the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Witt and his wife, Grethe, will go back to New York City and retrace their steps of that day.


Witt, who also directs the WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research, was attending the National Association of Business and Economics conference in the Marriott Hotel when the first plane struck the WorldTradeCenter.


His wife, who is hearing impaired, was on the 10th floor of the hotel.


He heard a muffled sound when the first plane exploded into the tower and noticed the chandeliers trembling.


“We immediately stood up and left the building in a hurry,”Witt said.


Although in separate locations, each found safety that day.


Later, both Witt and his wife called WVU officials to let them know they were safe and to find news on the whereabouts of others.


“When we go back to New York City on Sept. 11, we will retrace each of our steps and show each other the day as we remember it,”he said.”It will bring back a lot of memories.”


The only other memorabilia that Witt has of the day is several of his belongings that were returned to him last December.


After nearly 1.1 million tons of rubble had been removed, officials recovered Witts palm pilot, airline ticket and a bill from his hotel stay.


“I couldnt believe they had found anything of mine,”he said.”I was very surprised.”


Although shaken by the experience, Witt said he is doing just fine. He has even taken excursions by airplane in the past year.


“Im doing great,”he added.


Besides the obvious impact of witnessing such a tragedy, Witt knows life will never be the same.


“Our lives have changed forever, and there are changes that we are still discovering,”he said.


“It makes you think about the purpose of your life,”Witt added.”While some chose to completely change their careers, I chose to continue to do the things I love. There are lot of things you can do with your life. Weve found that supporting relatives and friends is most important.”