LONGS, SC (WBTW) – Imagine buying a home And finding more than a dozen army awards and medals left inside, honoring years of military service.
That’s exactly what happened to one man in Horry County.
When Craig Sturgill walked on his new jobsite, he didn’t know it’d end in a search.
“I exhausted all of my resources with every google search and talked to other tenants that were here and just hit dead ends every which way that I went,” said Sturgill.
He bought a mobile home park off Bradford Lane in Longs and was doing some remodeling when his contractor, Ethan Lipford found a plaque of service medals left behind.
“We come across this plaque that was in this cabinet here. I saw the ROTC and things that was familiar to me,” points Lipford.
Finding the owner became Sturgill’s first priority because the service behind these medals hits close to home.
“My dad served in the military, I served in the military, my son is in the military,” said Sturgill.
Nineteen different medals, awards, and service ribbons are all that’s left behind in the dust of construction, and all that’s left to tell the story of a soldier named Phillips.
“I know that each of those ribbons and awards and medals has a story. I don’t know what those stories are. Maybe I’ll find out what they are one day, maybe I won’t, but somebody earned those medals and they deserve to have that back,” said Sturgill.
If you know any information that would help lead Sturgill to Phillips, email therlong@wbtw.com.
