
William Sandoval - portrait by artist Bruce Walters.
By Rachael Mullins, President/CEO The Putnam Museum
"When we hear the word “sacrifice” we think of the willingness to give of ourselves to help others, usually as a selfless act. Sacrifice also includes giving of oneself for the benefit of a greater outcome, both for ourselves and others we care about. This enlightened mutual benefit includes fighting for the freedoms that we all believe in, the basic human right to live safely and to protect our loved ones, as well as, giving voice to the rights we should all enjoy and to raise our voices when those rights are denied. At a period of incredible challenge around the world, we come together to celebrate the milestones of sacrifice of those who have come before us. This edition is dedicated to them and to those among us continuing to serve our country and those raising their voices to assure a better future for us all.
Featuring Hero Street for Independence Day
As we anticipate the upcoming Independence Day holiday, We extend our thanks to the men and women of the military. Our community has a deep history of support and sacrifice for the armed forces, from the Rock Island Arsenal and their tremendous museum collection to the legendary families of Hero Street. Thank you for your service. Please learn more about and celebrate the heritage of Hero Street with us and our partners at Fourth Wall Films.

The Putnam is proudly partnering with Fourth Wall Films, to present a special online screening of A Bridge Too Far From Hero Street. The 30-minute documentary will stream via Facebook on Sunday, July 5th at 2:00 p.m. followed by a Q&A with award-winning and Emmy-nominated Quad City filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle. An encore presentation will take place on Monday, July 6th at 7:00 p.m. Visit HeroStreetMovie.com for screening details.
A Bridge Too Far From Hero Street tells the story of hero William Sandoval of Silvis, Illinois. Born into an impoverished migrant farming family of twelve, Willy joined the Army after Pearl Harbor was attacked and became a paratrooper. He survived several battles over the next two years, but was killed at age 21 in October 1944 following his involvement in what is still the largest air assault in history, the British-led Operation Market Garden. The documentary includes interviews with William Sandoval’s family members, military historian John C. McManus, and Marc Wilson, and features art by Quad Cities artist Bruce Walters, and music by Joe Soliz. The film premiered on the Putnam's Giant Screen to a capacity crowd on Veterans Day Eve in 2019.


Through its fiscal sponsor the Moline Foundation, the Hero Street documentary film series received partial funding from the Regional Development Authority (RDA), Illinois Arts Council, the Illinois Humanities, Humanities Iowa, National Endowment for the Humanities, Quad City Arts Dollars—provided by Illinois Arts Council Agency, Hubbell-Waterman Foundation and John Deere, the Quad Cities Community Foundation, LULAC Iowa, Mexican American Veterans Association, the City of Silvis, and individual contributors. The project also received a production grant from the Moline Foundation. The views and opinions expressed by these films do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations.
Fourth Wall Films is an award-winning and Emmy-nominated independent film production company formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline, Illinois.
To PRE-ORDER the DVD for Riding the Rails to Hero Street (release date late March 2020) or A Bridge too Far from Hero Street (release date April 2020) or Fourth Wall Films' Emmy-nominated and award-winning film Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT), CLICK HERE!