ORLANDO, Fla. – A pair of house flippers in Orlando believe they found a historic military medal while cleaning out a house they purchased.
Erin and Michael Kara said the house was filled with belongings from the previous owner, who had died.
They said they found what appears to be a U.S. Military Medal of Honor from the Civil War, inside a box.
“We called it the treasure house when we were working on it because there were so many treasures in there," Erin Kara said. “When I saw it, I didn’t even know what it was. But to look it up -- and I mean, I researched a lot -- to get the background, you know, education on it, from finding it was pretty cool.”
The couple said their research led them to a battle during the Civil War, during which a man by the same name listed on the medal, Mark Wood, attempted to block Confederate soldiers by damaging railways in the South. Their records show Wood was given one of the first-ever medals of honor during Abraham Lincoln's presidency.
News 6 was able to locate online records from the U.S. Department of Defense that list a Mark Wood receiving the Medal of Honor during the 1860s.
“Just the uniqueness of it and, you know, after researching, I saw there was only, I think, 3,500 ever awarded, and Abraham Lincoln would have been the one to give this one out, so it’s kind of a big deal," Erin Kara said.
The Karas also said they are considering donating the medal to a museum, while emphasizing that they just want the medal to be kept safe and given the honor it deserves.