While in the psychiatric ward, Byers reported pain in his leg, jaw, arm, and abdomen leading doctors to contact his mother Margarite Wallace to ask for parental consent to perform a spinal tap because they suspected Byers had meningitis. Byers was later diagnosed with herpes encephalitis.

Byers' Spinal Tap in the American Veterans Administration Hospital

In 1976 Byers violated his parole and was committed to a psychiatric ward in the American Veterans Administration Hospital in Menlo Park, California, an option Byers was given to avoid incarceration in prison. 

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Lou Byers who lived in Oakland, CA, joined the United States Army at the age of 17. His time in the armed services in Germany was marked by Byers experiencing racism at a higher level than he ever had in Oakland. Byers grew disillusioned with the U.S. and began writing home expressing suicidal ideation. Byers' mother contacted the Red Cross unsuccessfully attempting to get Byers help. Byers was dishonorably discharged at 19 for apathy toward the military and an inability to adjust. Back in the United States Byers was later incarcerated for minor public altercations spurred on by his resentment and hatred of the U.S. military. 

Lou Byers' time in the United States Army 

Schalk, Sami. Black Disability Politics, New York, USA: Duke University Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478027003

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