JON HELGASON

UA economist Marshall Vest tells of his experience escaping the World Trade Center disaster on Sept. 11. Vest, wearing the same shoes and tie as he did the day of the attacks in New York City, also discussed the status of the nation's economy since the attacks.

Monday October 1, 2001

Victim stresses importance of expressing feelings and concerns

For the first time since Sept. 11, UA economist Marshall Vest wore the same pair of shoes Friday that he wore running through rubble, broken glass and soot in Lower Manhattan while trying to survive the terrorist attacks.

"If you look closely, the dust and ash are still in the creases," he said.

Vest was in the Marriott Hotel at the World Trade Center attending an economics convention when the attacks occurred.

"As we were listening to the breakfast speaker, Morgan Stanley's president, Robert G. Scott, the chandeliers vibrated," Vest said. "I remember glancing at others seated at my table and it was obvious that we were all thinking the same thing - 'this isn't Los Angeles, they don't have earthquakes in New York, do they?'"

During the next couple of seconds, there was another explosion and the debris from the tower that had been hit by an airplane began raining down on the hotel.

Vest said the group had two options for exiting the ballroom - to the right were the elevators to Tower One, and to the left was the hotel lobby.

Still not knowing what had happened above him, Vest looked out the lobby windows and saw a total war zone covered in concrete and twisted metal.

Vest and others were quickly ushered outside by hotel employees. Seeing the explosion in the tower above them and dead bodies on the ground below, they ran, hand-in-hand, through dark, thick soot until they reached the Hudson River two blocks away.

"If the Hudson River had not been there, I would have kept going and been in St. Louis today," Vest said. "For the next three hours, it was a search for where we could go to be safe."

The rest of the day was terrifying as Vest struggled through the thick dust and smoke from the fallen buildings and latched onto New Yorkers who managed to find their way to safety.

After walking 10 miles - his mouth and nose covered by his hands - Vest arrived covered in soot at a safe mid-town building.

That night, Vest said he slept with his cell phone, and he is just now beginning to find his life getting back to normal.

"You have to stop and reassess what's important," he said. "I've been telling this story to anybody and everybody who would listen."

Vest, who returned home on Sept 16, said he got off the plane, looked around at Tucson's low skyline and realized how much he loved home.

Now, Vest is getting back to work forecasting the economy, which he looks at optimistically after surviving an event many did not.

"I would hope the story helps bring home to those who saw what happened on TV how horrific and terrifying it really was," Vest said.

"We need to be able to express our feelings, to express our concerns, our care, our kindness toward others - and we need lots of hugs quite frankly," he said.