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His mind continued to play games with him for years. It wouldn't be until 2004, with the purchase of a book that everything turned around.

\"The turning point for me, I had been interviewed by the 9/11 Commission. And it wasn't until the 9/11 Commission report came out and I bought the book and here is this book with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pages, and I'm on page three. I have a little paragraph and a footnote, footnote number 12.\"

Allex explained that single footnote -- his name next to so many others -- is what finally set him free of guilt and the feeling of responsibility years after the attacks.

\"That's when it started to get better. That's when I went -- oh my gosh. There were so many other people involved, there were so many innocent people that just touched on this. And I had just such a small, tiny five-minute part of it. But before that, it was -- it was terrible.\"

Allex retired from American Airlines in 2008. He now works for TSA.

\"I joined the Department of Homeland Security working for the Transportation Security Administration and ever since I've been with them, it's been great. I feel like the work that they do is so important to keep everybody safe. And the fact that I have just such a small little part there, I'm like the happiest person at TSA. And I'll tell anybody that,\" Allex said with a smile.

On Aug. 23, Allex walked with ABC News through the doors he saw the two hijackers run through that fateful morning. As he stood there, recalling the memory of the men responsible for starting the war in Afghanistan, Afghan refugees had just arrived from evacuation flights. They filed past the American Airlines ticket counter and through the very doors that the hijackers walked in 20 years earlier -- grateful to start a new life in America.

\"PHOTO:
Sam Sweeney/ABC News
PHOTO: Afghan refugees arrive at Dulles International Airport, Aug. 24, 2021.
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