The Burden of MS on Our Military

By David Lyons

Published Jun 30, 2014

In the summer of 1977, when I enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC), I had to endure the 105-110 degree heat of boot camp in Parris Island, South Carolina. Weeks of humidity and drills in unbearable heat were grueling, but as a young man, not even 20 years old, I became used to the endless days and limited sleep. When I look back at a time in my life 37 years ago when MS was just two letters in the alphabet with no other meaning, it seemed like someone else’s life.

For the past eight years of living with the two letters that now mean multiple sclerosis, I have come to appreciate the time in my life when I was able to endure the heat, run drills, climb ropes, and, well…just feel my limbs and coordinate them. I no longer take for granted the health of my youth or the ability to conquer the hardest task put in front of me. Those two little letters ‒ MS ‒ have changed my life forever.

Last week I began to wonder, when I put on my USMC cap and headed to the gym to coordinate myself through another workout, how many Marines and other military men and women suffer from MS. How many war veterans who have served our country with honor and bravery now deal with the numbness of MS and its multitude of symptoms? How many military careers have been cut short by this debilitating disease? So, I began to do my research and found some disturbing facts.

Information from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) states that more than 28,000 veterans are receiving care annually for MS in the VA system. That is just the number that is being reported to the VA. I am sure that many thousands of MS diagnoses in the military are unreported.

I found, through information at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, that a February 2008 Congressional briefing examined MS among veterans. Two U.S. veterans living with MS and a neurologist with the VA’s MS Centers of Excellence testified on Capitol Hill. Legislators and staff came together and examined the increased risk and prevalence of the disease among U.S. veterans and explored the need for increased federal funding in MS research.

New evidence at the time showed a potential link between the incidence of MS and combat service. A study published in the Annals of Neurology in 2004 identified 5,345 cases of MS among U.S. veterans that were deemed “service-connected.”

One of the veterans who testified, Dr. David Gustavison, a U.S. Army Medical Corps veteran whoserved in the Gulf War and lives with MS, shared his views as a medical doctor with complete knowledge of the disease. “I believe there is a relationship between military service and MS,” Dr. Gustavison said. “Myself and three other physicians in the same command were diagnosed with MS in approximately a two-year time period. Two of us were deployed to the Gulf. All three had the same pre-deployment vaccinations. And all three worked with the same command and visited the same installations. I have had symptoms of MS since 1994.”

Bob Wolz, another U.S. Army veteran who served in the Gulf War, also testified by sharing his story of life with MS. He considers MS a wound that does not heal from his first tour of duty. The stories go on and on about veterans who suffer from MS and I wanted to speak to one of these MS warriors.

So, in my search to learn more about MS and the soldiers afflicted by this disease, I found Kevin Byrne (pictured, left), a veteran army helicopter pilot. Kevin is very vocal about his battle with MS, and I knew I had to reach out to him and get his story firsthand. I spoke to Kevin on the phone, and he is an amazing man who has a heart to help others with MS.

Kevin’s personal mantra is very similar to my “Never Quit”: “Never Stop…Never Quit!” He says, “I always want to do it all, but some years, my body just will not let me.”

Kevin reflects that, “I was overseas with the Army Cavalry when I was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999. Although my Army career ended in a flash, my physical recovery has taken much longer. I have been able to fight back, though. Through the amazing medical treatment that I receive from my doctors at the VA Hospital, my health is ‘stable.’ Through the constant love and guidance from my friends and family, I have been able to maintain my daily life.”

As a West Point graduate, Kevin entered military service strong minded and physically fit with the dream that anything is possible. He served as a captain in Army aviation, flying helicopters. His life changed in 1999, when he started experiencing vision problems and numbness in his arms.

Kevin says, “I like to think of myself as a strong person. I’m the one who stands straight when dealing with adversity, there to support the ones who ‘really need the help.’ My MS proves that’s not true. It reminds me how much I lean on others and how much others carry me, support me, and give me the strength to keep moving forward.”

I had the pleasure of asking Kevin a few questions:

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