The 'Civil War' That Almost Stopped the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from Being Built

Sunday, March 29, is National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

Its design is simple: Two long, black granite walls, set into the natural landscape, meet to form a V, and etched into the stone are the names of 58,276 military personnel who died during the long, divisive conflict.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., ultimately changed everything for the veterans of that war, but opposition to the design was so fierce that it almost didn’t get built.