Dealing with haunting memories of war
By James Fuller Daily Herald Staff
Contact writer
When Larry Van Meter returned from his first tour of duty in the Iraq war this summer, he had the pictures to prove it.
During his time in the Anbar province, he'd snapped many shots of pictures drawn in the sand, local children they gave candy to and picturesque sunsets during sandstorms.
The 20-year-old Villa Park native-turned-Marine craved views of large bodies of water and the smell of grass as his parents visited with him in San Diego, near Camp Pendleton.
And yet there was something about the pictures.
Van Meter's mom, Martha Geiseman, views them as the unseen and unappreciated aspects of Iraqi life that her maturing son is learning to appreciate. But Van Meter's dad, Dennis Geiseman, finds himself uneasy about the amount of time his son spent talking about the war during their time together.
"He was constantly showing us the pictures," Geiseman said. "Some of it was not normal, not natural. It was like he couldn't let go of it."
Geiseman would know. He's a Vietnam War veteran, only recently diagnosed as suffering from lingering effects associated with his exposure to Agent Orange.
Van Meter will return to Iraq for his second tour in January. Because of what he'll likely experience, and because of the experiences of his dad before him, veterans in Villa Park are making a pre-emptive strike.
Instead of a flag-raising today, the Villa Park Veterans of Foreign Wars post will host an information session on post-traumatic stress disorder with doctors accustomed to working with veterans.
The session comes about as Vietnam veterans ascend into leadership roles at local VFW and American Legion posts.
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