Missing Father's Day with his children was "a small sacrifice compared to what these soldiers have given up for all of us," he said.

Nae'ole gratefully accepted an invitation to perform a Hawaiian blessing at the Disabled Sports USA Wounded Warrior Project at the Kent Island Yacht Club. Before 12 disabled soldiers took to the water, a crowd of about 75 people watched Nae'ole perform a traditional Hawaiian blessing for four canoes, which had been connected to form a pair of eight-seat, double hull outriggers — one named "Me'e Amelika" and the other "Koa Aloha."

Dressed in a yellow and black "kihei," or shoulder covering, Nae'ole said the blessing was to give birth to some good medicine.

"The living canoe will be a healing instrument for these men and women," he said. "It's a rejuvenation and revival and a way of saying I can do anything."

Tammy Duckworth

Duckworth, a graduate of McKinley High School and the University of Hawai'i, couldn't make it after learning she needed more surgery on her arm.

But among the paddlers was Army Capt. Tony Ordierno, 26, of Rockaway, N.J., who tried the sport for the first time.

"It's great," said Ordierno, who lost an arm in Iraq in August and used a paddle fitted to his hand to stroke. "It gets a lot of the soldiers out of the hospital. It lets them know that they can still do a lot of these activities." He now works as a general's aide in the Pentagon.

The "wounded warriors" tested their skills in the water after Nae'ole's blessing. The event became an impromptu race. Stephen J. Boitano • Gannett News Service

She called the Hawaiian outrigger canoe paddling "the perfect sport that can accommodate people with all kinds of disabilities."

Whitaker said she has used outrigger canoes for years to help rehabilitate people with missing limbs, spinal injuries and degenerative diseases, such as cerebral palsy.

Now working with rehab patients at Walter Reed, Whitaker said her goal is to have outrigger canoe paddling recognized as a Paralympic event.

"As far as getting athletes involved, that's been very easy," said Whitaker. "Because there are a lot of people who have had injuries who'd like to continue their life in sports. And once the idea got going, more and more people came aboard."

East Coast Outrigger Racing Association president Debbie Hall, right, cuts a ceremonial cord on the Niolo, an outrigger canoe that Clifford Nae'ole named in honor of Army Maj. Tammy Duckworth, a McKinley High and University of Hawai'i graduate who was injured after her helicopter was attacked in Iraq in November. Stephen J. Boitano • Gannett News Service

That event was such a success that Whitaker contacted the occupational therapist at Walter Reed. "I said, 'You know, there's the Kent Island Outrigger Canoe Club that's only an hour away from the hospital — why don't we try to get the soldiers to do something closer to home.' "

Debbie Hall, president of the East Coast Outrigger Racing Association, which helped coordinate the event, said it was aimed at offering soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan wars a way to engage in a fun and challenging sport during their recovery.

"They do a great recovery, but it kills you being in the hospital and not being able to do everything you want. Just getting out of the hospital is the greatest feeling ever," said Army Sgt. Orlando Gill, 32, of New York, who lost part of his right leg below the knee Oct. 2 in an attack in Iraq.

The Wounded Warrior Project and the Non-Commissioned Officers Association of the United States donated canoes.

Ryan Autery of Nashville, Tenn., was among the soldiers to try outrigger canoe paddling yesterday as part of the Disabled Sports USA Wounded Warrior Project at the Kent Island Yacht Club in Maryland. Stephen J. Boitano • Gannett News Service

"We'd really like to work toward getting them into our relay races this September when we go all the way around the island," she said.

Following the dedication, soldiers took to the water in the four canoes.

Gill called the paddling "a pretty good experience" that helps people work as a team. "It was great. If they make a team, I would be more than happy to join."

Army Sgt. Chris Schneider, 28, of Parsons, Kan., who lost his right leg above the knee in January last year in Iraq, was the closest thing to a veteran in outrigger paddling.

"It's a blast," said Schneider, who had his cell phone and was waiting for a Father's Day call from his two children. "I've done river canoeing in Missouri and Kansas and Colorado for years. This has a little bit different technique ... but it's fun."

Hall said yesterday's outing was meant to orient the disabled veterans with outrigger canoes, and was not intended to be a competition.

Then again, these paddlers were warriors.

"You put these guys in a canoe and inevitably there's competition somewhere," she said. "Two boats on the water means a race."