When I first received your book in the mail there was definite hesitation being a widow myself. Hesitation due to what I might not be ready to handle or think about.
    From the first page on I was sucked in. You wrote in such a way that I felt as if I was reading the words stuck in mind that I was unable to get out. The first chapter alone made me smile, cry, nostalgic and be proud to be a widow of a hero. Your journey and candidness showed me that it is normal to feel what I am feeling, to be happy to have had the love that Michael showed me, and that bravery has always been there to help me through.
    There are so many facets to this book. From covering the attack and the soldiers involved to PTSD, Glenda has started a path for the widows of the past and present. She has taught me to not be afraid, to take the love our soldiers blessed us with to get us through the moments when we want to give up.
    I have known her and her story for only a couple of months now, but already consider her a very great friend and an inspiration that has helped me through many trying times. She has helped turn the flashlight on in the dark tunnel of grief I am walking through.
    Thank you for your story. Thank you for your courage. Thank you for helping me want to live another day. Thank you for being a mentor as I try to take Michael's love and do something as great with it as you did with Bruce's.
~~Taryn Davis, wife of Cpl. Michael W. Davis KIA 5.21.07

"I do believe that when we face challenges in life that are far beyond our own power, it's an opportunity to build on our faith, inner strength, and courage. I've learned that how we face challenges plays a big role in the outcome of them."  ~~Sasha Azevedo

     As a widow of war, I cannot imagine putting my innermost feelings of grief out there for the public to read. Glenda has courageously done exactly that to help other widows of war feel less alone.
    Glenda takes her readers from war through the eyes of a young widow, to families torn apart by combat PTSD, to the consequences and lessons learned from unresolved grief.
    Sacred Shadow, Sacred Ground made me realize that my feelings of despair, loneliness, and sorrow are not only completely normal, but also emotions that I must acknowledge and accept in order to heal. Because she chose to share her personal experience, I since have been able to share my own story with others and to feel my courage slowly coming back.
    Thank you, Glenda, for having the courage to share your story and for leaving such an important and beautiful legacy for Bruce.
Sincerely,
~~Jocelyn Mintzlaff, wife of SSG Brian Mintzlaff, KIA 12.18.06

    Your book is rich with complex feelings and tells a story that needs to be told. I find that the majority of people have no clue about PTSD. The toll of the war was not confined to physical boundaries of the battlefield. I am glad you put your story to print to help those who read it get a better understanding of the meaning of the word LOSS. Of course it is also a love story and, thankfully, a story of healing.
    I see many parallels in your story to my own journey through the darkness of PTSD.
    Thanks for telling your story. I admire your honesty and the description of your spiritual jouney. I found your faith to be inspirational.
~~Greg Stadler. Portland, Oregon,
Former Infantry Squad Leader, US Army Vietnam 1967 & 1968, 25th Infantry Division & 199th LIB

    Yesterday morning, I woke up with dark circles under red and puffy eyes—all from reading Sacred Shadow, Sacred Ground by Glenda M. Carter, to the wee hours. No books have ever compelled me to read from start to finish in one sitting. I couldn’t flag the page so that I could come back to read it later. Glenda’s story is very simply told but packed with such power in its rawness and intimacy.
    Reading it was like having her sitting by my side and telling me her life story over pots of tea and boxes of tissues. From the point of view of a writer, this book has given me deep insights into the world of Vietnam war widows.
    From the point of view of a nurse, I believe it is a book of healing for anybody who has suffered the loss of a loved one. And from the point of view of a Vietnamese American, reading Glenda’s story has brought back acutely my childhood memories that I have long stored away in the back of my mind. I see this book as a bridge that could help bring the Vietnamese people to understand how an American widow feels about that war. With the Iraq War, a new generation of military widows goes down the path of grieving that people of our generation hoped it wouldn’t happen again, that the Vietnam War has taught us a lesson.
    Glenda’s compelling story will resonate with readers long after they have read Sacred Shadow, Sacred Ground.
~~Anne Speirs, RN, PHN San Dimas, California

    It is a lie that time heals all wounds, a cop-out for those who seek to hide from the true cost of war. Healing from the losses war visits upon us is a process, a passage, one that Glenda Carter boldly describes for us, and in so doing, honors the grief-stricken teenage widow and her fallen 18 year-old Marine and his comrades in arms.
    She invites us into her journey, one marked with pitfalls and epiphanies, self-destructiveness and courage, the paradoxes that measure the coming home from war. Now in her fifties, Mrs. Carter reminds us that healing from trauma cannot, indeed, be measured by the ticking of the clock, the turning of the pages of the calendar. True mending of the heart, from self-doubt to revelation, knows no boundaries such as time. It is available to each of us. The completed circle is in the gift to society and it is this work of the heart Glenda Carter offers us here. Welcome Home!
~~ Steven Tice, MA, CTC, Wounded in Vietnam, Battle for Hamburger Hill, May, 1969
National advocate and therapist in the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

    I read your book on Monday. I couldn't put it down. I was so blessed. It gave me such hope. Thank you for sharing how very real and living our Savior is to a world that needs to hear of His undying love and faithfulness. How much we need to hear this message.
~~ Colleen Rahn (Bruce's cousin)