"The towers were hit," he recalled, "like a lot of other Americans I decided, hey, now's the time."
"Our America: Portraits of Courage" honors the heroic stories of veterans painted by George W. Bush in his tribute book "Portraits of Courage." These vibrant paintings highlight the courage and sacrifice of Americas military veterans and are now on display at Walt Disney World's Epcot.
Ayers, featured in the special, started his military career as a corpsman in the United States Navy. Later, he switched over to the Army as a medic in special forces where he is currently in psychological operations.
During his career, he was deployed twice and was injured during one deployment to Afghanistan. He sustained physical injuries to his hip and back, along with long-lasting mental wounds.
"The mental side of it is the long haul right, you don't know when these things are going to come in and what's going to trigger some kind of memory," Ayers said, "but for me, my journey has been mostly developing, instead of being angry and upset about what happened to me or constantly dwelling on it, I like to develop an attitude of gratitude is what I like to call it."
His wife Debbie and daughter Isabella stood by his side during his recovery and praised his accomplishments and ability to overcome what he went through while still being a present and loving father:
"He's a great father, that's probably what I'm most proud about," shared Debbie.
"Even when he has to go out for the weekends, if I have a dance competition or like a birthday party, he'll always make sure to get out early to be on time there and just to be there," said his daughter Isabella.
Ayers was painted by George W. Bush and is featured in the "Portraits of Courage" book. He and his family flew out to the Walt Disney World Resort for a vacation, but also to show Isabella his portrait at the American Adventure Pavilion for the very first time.
"It's exciting, its emotional you know. He's painted for a reason. I wish none of these guys and gals were painted. It's a whole range of emotions: proud, sad but we're very proud of him and it's very exciting, it's pretty cool, it's pretty cool," said Debbie after they saw the portraits.
"When other veterans see their portraits, I hope that they feel gratitude. They feel good about what they did, about the stuff that they carry with them," said Ayers of the experience.
"I hope that it gives them the opportunity to kind of let it go and move on with their lives and see that nice blue sky when they walk out of these doors and just appreciate everything that's around them."
The Portraits of Courage are on display at the American Adventure Pavilion in Epcot at the Walt Disney World Resort through Summer of 2026.
Watch the full special "Our America: Portraits of Courage" streaming now on Hulu.
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