Seems like yesterday, but it's been more than a quarter century since student architect Maya Ying Lin stunned the country with her plan for a 250-foot long black granite wall to honor veterans of the Vietnam War. Groundbreaking for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. took place on March 26, 1982.

Controversy surrounding the monument was a lot like today's disputes over New York's World Trade Center Memorial. Loved ones and survivors clamored for a traditional monument with human statues.

^{Photo: ArtToday.com}