“An Infantryman from Hero Street" at the Robert R. Jones Public Library -- August 6.
Tuesday, August 6, 1 p.m.
Robert R. Jones Public Library, 900 First Street, Coal Valley IL
Presented at Coal Valley's Robert R. Jones Public Library on August 6, a screening of An Infantryman from Hero Street will find local Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films sharing their moving, 30-minute documentary with area audiences, this fourth work in the Hero Street series followed by a question-and-answer session with the area talents.
An Infantryman from Hero Street tells the true story of Pfc. Joseph Sandoval, who was born in a boxcar to Mexican immigrants in the Silvis, Illinois rail yard. In 1944, Joe was married with a young son and another on the way when he was drafted and shipped to Britain with the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment. His unit helped fight the second stage of the Normandy Invasion in France. Joe was killed in April 1945 on the Elbe River in Schönebeck, Germany, on the eve of a historic meeting between U.S. and Soviet allies on that same river just weeks before the war's end and Adolph Hitler's suicide.
Only a block and a half long, Second Street in Silvis, Illinois, lost six young men in World War II and two in the Korean War, more than any other street in America. Hero Street, as it is now known, has provided more than 150 service members since Mexican-American immigrants settled there in 1929. An Infantryman from Hero Street is part four of the multi-part documentary series by Fourth Wall Films exploring the compelling true story of eight Mexican-American heroes from Hero Street, USA: Tony Pompa, Frank Sandoval, William Sandoval, Claro Solis, Peter Masias, Joseph Sandoval, Joseph Gomez and John S. Muños. “They gave their lives to preserve our freedom,” said Captain Kevin Braafladt, First Army Support Command Historian. “It would be their hope, and the hope of their families, to have their service and stories remembered.”
This dramatic and compelling World War II story includes interviews with Captain Braafladt, author/historian John C. McManus, and authors Marc Wilson and Carlos Harrison, and features Emmanuel Juarez as Pfc. Joseph Sandoval, Eric Juarez as Joe's brother Frank, and Matt Walsh as 1st Lt. Frank Houcek. Produced by Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, An Infantryman from Hero Street was funded in part by a grant from the Illinois Humanities, with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Illinois General Assembly; and, through its fiscal sponsor the Black Box Theatre, a Quad City Arts Dollars grant provided by Illinois Arts Council Agency, Hubbell-Waterman Foundation, and John Deere.
Moviemakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle have been producing, writing, directing, and editing documentaries and other media projects for more than 25 years, and are the recipients of numerous Mid-America Emmy nominations, wins, and film-festival awards. Their 2017 film The Barn Raisers was an official selection at Southern California's Newport Beach Film Festival, and the duo's additional credits include River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6, Country School: One Room – One Nation, Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg, Lost Nation: The Ioway, Villisca: Living with a Mystery, and the award-winning docudrama Sons & Daughters of Thunder.
An Infantryman from Hero Street will be shown at the Coal Valley library on August 6, admission to the 1 p.m. screening and Q&A is free, and more information is available by calling (309)799-3047 and visiting RobertRJonesLibrary.org. For more on the film, visit HeroStreetMovie.com.
