Tracing Veterans Day back to nightmare of World War I

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Veterans Day this year has extra significance with its origin going back to World War I. That "War to End All Wars" broke out 100 years ago. The veterans who endured that war saw some of the worst violence in history, yet so few of them are remembered today.

It is a war that has long since faded from the world's headlines. World War I was a global nightmare. It brought so many horrible new innovations: Aerial bombardment, tanks, deadly gas, machine guns.

The United States threw millions of men into this hell, yet few of us today are even aware if we had family in this war.

PLAYA DEL REY

"Most of my knowledge of Hitochi, my grandfather, was passed down to me by my aunt, my father, because I was five years old when he passed away," said Jerry Fukui, decedent of a WWI veteran.

Playa del Rey resident Jerry Fukui is a rarity. Not only has his family preserved his grandfather's legacy, but they've even held on to pieces of it.

Fukui describes his Grandfather Hitochi as a proud American citizen. He was drafted, then fought in horrific battles in Belgium and France.

"During the war he was selected to be a runner. So he would take messages from one trench to another trench," said Fukui.

SERBIA

The world has changed dramatically since 1914. Countries where the carnage took place haven't forgotten, but are replacing bad with good.

In Belgrade, Serbia, where the Sava and Danube rivers come together, the city enjoys a thriving nightlife. Restaurants, nightclubs and bars are filled with patrons every night.

It's a stark contrast to what happened there 100 years ago when Austro-Hungarian forces tried to invade the city. It would become known as the first battle of World War I.

"Today when we talk about warfare, pretty much all the concepts that are in place in modern warfare emerged during the first world war," said historian and author James Lyon.

It would be just the beginning of overwhelming violence in the region. More than half the male population in Serbia was killed. In the small village of Kisiljevo, a monument in the middle of town lists all those from the community who died in the war.

FORT MACARTHUR, RANCHO PALOS VERDES

At Fort MacArthur in Rancho Palos Verdes, a small band of men keeps the memory alive as well. They are re-enactors who, once a year, teach us what World War I was about.

"With us doing this, remembering the sacrifices that our forefathers made and the freedoms that we have now, it's really important just to keep it going," said Sean Weller, Great War Historical Society. "I had family fighting in World War I, so here we are now trying to represent them."

Some people understand that being a veteran of any war takes supreme sacrifice. That's something sometimes lost on this country.

Even Fukui's grandfather was slighted after he proudly served.

When World War II broke out, he was sent to an internment camp. And even then, locked up behind barbed wire by his own country, he would still wear his uniform.

"He was very, very proud of being a veteran," said Fukui.

There is a universal bond all veterans share, no matter the war: Men and women who deserve to be recognized by each and every generation. Time should not diminish their sacrifice.

"We should never forget on how they served the country and how they gave up their lives for us," said Fukui.

It's no coincidence Veterans Day falls on the day World War I ended: After the war, the U.S. decided to honor those who fought by declaring Armistice Day a national holiday.

In the 1950s, following the great sacrifices of World War II and the Korean conflict, Armistice Day was changed to Veterans Day to recognize all veterans.