Brent’s wife, Kim Rasmussen and John Kessel, USA Volleyball’s Director of Membership Development & Disabled Programs, also helped at the Summit.

“Even though you’ve been through some hard times, I want to show you that there are still things you can do,” Kessel told the participants.

Thirty-five recently injured service members attended the Summit, which lasted five days and also included practice and competition in shooting, swimming, table tennis and track and field. Participants at the event attended from Brooke Army Medical Center (Fort Sam Houston, Texas), Walter Reed Army Medical Center (Washington, D.C.) and U.S. Naval Medical Center San Diego, as well as VA hospitals from Augusta, Ga., and Tampa, Fla.

Brent Rasmussen (Omaha, Neb.), the captain of the U.S. Men’s Sitting Volleyball Team that competed at the 2004 Paralympics and the 2006 World Championships, has helped at all four Paralympic Military Summits and at 10-15 other clinics.

I’ve really enjoyed them. It’s nice to meet some of these troops and share the sport with them,” said Rasmussen, who said he could relate to losing a limb in a dramatic way.

Rasmussen lost his leg in 2002. He was assisting a stranded motorist when another vehicle crashed into the disabled car, crushing both his legs between the two vehicles. His left leg had to be amputated.

Daniels (Bedford, Texas), who competed on the bronze-medal winning U.S. Women’s Paralympic Team in 2004 and on the World Championship team in 2006, has been an amputee since shortly after her birth due to a congenital issue. But she can still relate to the military members who lost limbs in a more dramatic fashion.

“I just love to hear the stories of these guys. My brother, Douglas Daniels, is a Marine stationed in Okinawa (Japan),” she said. “I feel like I relate to them and I have a lot of love.”

Another great thing, Daniels said, is seeing the service members getting better at the sport and enjoying themselves.

“It’s great to see it the first few times when they get a slam and everyone reacts with such enthusiasm,” she said.

While Daniels has unofficially retired from sitting volleyball while she works with AmeriCorps to help with the devastation in New Orleans, Rasmussen is still the U.S. men’s team captain and is on the lookout for new talent from the ranks of the military.

“There were three players – two have been to all three camps and one has been to two. We’ve seen them play. We’re asking them to come to our camp in November,” Rasmussen said.

“I think those three will help out a lot.”