( CNN ) -- In 1917 , at age 24 , Leo Foster went from being a musician to an instrument of war . The La Crosse , Wisconsin , native is n't in any textbook . His name did n't go down in history like MacArthur or Patton . But on Veterans Day , and every day , retired U.S. Navy Capt . Gary Foster remembers his grandfather . There are no more surviving World War I veterans . They were largely remembered in the 1920s and 1930s , but after World War II , the forgetting began , said Jennifer Keene , author and Chapman University professor . As time passes , their stories become lost , except for the families that preserve their words , photographs and memories . Some relatives reach out to the American Legion , which was created by World War I veterans , to share stories in its publication , Legiontown . It was an avenue that allowed Gary Foster to first share his grandfather 's story . `` The American Legion constitution includes 'to preserve the memories and incidents of our associations in the great wars , ' `` said Henry Howard , editor of Legiontown . `` If we do n't share these stories , they 'll be gone . '' Through Gary Foster and historians , a picture of his grandfather 's war experience emerges , and how the lessons from the first world war still reverberate a century after it began . A world on fire . A love of music set the tone for Leo Foster 's life . Along with his two sisters , Mary and Cunigunda , Leo enjoyed performing in a musical trio . And had not America joined World War I , Gary suspects that his grandfather might have continued hosting community performances . But Leo saw the writing on the wall and registered . It would n't be an easy decision for him . Tragedy had surrounded the Foster family early . His father , John , had died in 1895 . His mother , Barbara , had lost an infant son a year earlier . And now , the man of the house would leave his family . But protecting his family was also a big motivation for Leo . `` The war in some ways was really a war for family , '' said Andrew Huebner , a University of Alabama associate professor and author . `` The public culture around the war was draped in familial metaphors , a war to defend women and children from deprivation . '' The doughboys , as American troops were called , became youthful , iconic symbols for the nation . Because of exemptions from the draft , many of the men were sons , rather than fathers or husbands , Huebner said . Leo left his community for the first time to attend training camp . Camps were dangerous themselves , with the threat of disease such as the influenza epidemic , according to Keene , the Chapman University professor . After camp , shipping overseas was also hazardous , with waters infested with German U-boats keen to sink ships full of troops . Leo landed in the strange new setting of France in May 1918 . He was surrounded by African , Vietnamese and Chinese troops , which would shift his view of the world . It was a hybrid army of less experienced American volunteers and conscripts melded with war-weary troops who had already endured three years of trench warfare . It was also a war of hybrid technology , Keene said . There were modern machine guns , poison gas , tanks , aircraft and submarines , but many artillery pieces were pulled into positions by horses , Keene said . Communication was key , so armies relied on sounds . A series of counteroffenses had pushed troops back toward Germany , and trenches were abandoned , rendering telephone and telegraph wires useless . Bugle calls were an old form of communication , but the archaic became necessary , Keene said . Leo 's musical talent enabled him to become a bugler with the 32nd Division . Removing his gas mask , he used bugle calls for signaling advance , attack , charge and retreat as well as for mustering the troops . Leo was a main target for enemy troops . Knocking out communication in the heat of battle could further disrupt troops already shaken by the confusing fog of war . Leo 's division saw heavy fighting and some of the worst battles at the end of the war . On August 1 , 1918 , Leo was wounded during the Aisne-Marne Offensive by shrapnel in his arms , chest and legs . Officials sent a notice to his family that Leo had been killed in action , and his grandmother raised a flag over their home , honoring his life and service . Three days later , the Red Cross arrived to say that the message had been delivered in error , and that Leo was alive . But given the severity of his injuries , his family worried that he might not survive . Leo wrote home often , brushing off the injuries and letting everyone know that he was improving . Read one of his letters ( PDF ) Near the end of September , Leo rejoined the fighting in time for one of the most well-remembered battles of World War I -- the Meuse-Argonne Offensive . The fighting broke through the German line and pushed back through five miles of territory . It was n't long afterward that an armistice was declared . Leo received the Wound Chevron , gold stripes that were worn on the cuff .
As time passes , the stories of many World War I I veterans have become lost . Keene shares the experience of his grandfather , a World War bugler . the War Letters Project and The American Legion allow these stories to be shared .