An Ohio man had an unhappy trip to metro Atlanta last weekend when someone stole valuable Civil War collectibles and artifacts from his car, Channel 2 Action News reported.
“It’s just a heartbreak,” Cal Packard told the news station.
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Packard attended a Civil War show at the Cobb County Civic Center, and before his flight home, he took in a movie in the Cumberland area. He didn’t know it at the time, but the area is a hotbed for car break-ins.
Someone penetrated the lock on his rental car and took two large, heavy cases that contained the valuables, Channel 2 reported.
“All the heavy stuff was in the carry-on and that was all the Civil War letters and all the really valuable stuff,” he said.
Items stolen included soldiers’ letters that he and his wife transcribed.
“Thousands of hours were spent transcribing the letters,” he said, “because soldiers’ letters back in the Civil War were hard to make out.”
The artifacts also included a signed photo of Confederate Col. John Singleton Mosby that was valued at $10,000, Packard said.
“All that work,” he said, “it’s not just the fact of the value, it’s the time we put into it.”
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