Memorial a lasting tribute to heroes who saved the world and
changed it The World War II Memorial, sober and sunk low in a
long frame of elms,rests between the two structures that anchor
the Mall.The monument to America's first great warrior, George
Washington, towers over it on one side. The statue of America's
great uniter, Abraham Lincoln, looks on from the other. In such
company, the location and initial look of the new memorial to
those who fought in World War II had its doubters. It would
trample on ground consecrated by the civil rights movement, some
said. Its design smacked of imperialist architecture, others
said. The controversy, settled in granite and bronze, came down
to this: Was World War II -- the lives lost, the victories
gained -- a hinge event of American history, on par with the
founding and the Civil War? Or not? Historians say it was: The
war transformed America, and, in turn, America transformed the
world. "World War II was the seminal event of the 20th century,"
says Victor Davis Hanso