U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and leader of the U.S. delegation to the 2012 Paralympic Games, addressed an audience in London’s historic Hospital Club August 30 on the importance of the Paralympics and the value of the games to the world’s physically challenged athletes.

“There’s a bit of history that you all are more familiar with than I was initially,” he said. “As you know, in World War I, women doctors — doctors Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson — wanted to start a hospital for the wounded.”

The general recounted how, despite political obstacles, the women persevered and eventually opened a hospital to treat wounded soldiers. Like these women, the sponsors of the Paralympic Games are pioneers and agents of change that are making a difference in people’s lives, Dempsey said.

“For that, I couldn’t tell you how proud we are to be here today,” he added, noting that more than 200 of the 2012 Paralympians are wounded warriors, including 20 American veterans.

He said the Paralympic experience “is one of those places that you come across in your life where you say, ‘You know, it really doesn’t matter who wins, because they’re all winners.’”