Tickets for the premiere of An Infantryman from Hero Street during Veterans Day weekend Saturday, November 12, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. on the Putnam Museum's National Geographic Giant Screen Theater in Davenport, Iowa are now available to purchase HERE!
The premiere event will include music, a special tribute to our Veterans, an encore screening of Riding the Rails to Hero Street prior to An Infantryman from Hero Street, and Q&A with film participants following.
Early ticket reservations for the premiere event are STRONGLY RECOMMENDED. The 2019 Hero Street film premiere sold out weeks prior to the event.
An Infantryman from Hero Street, the fourth episode in the "Hero Street" documentary series, tells the true story of Pvt. Joseph Sandoval who was born in a boxcar to Mexican immigrants in the Silvis, Illinois rail yard. In 1944, Joe, married with two young sons, 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. In April 1945, the Allied forces reached an agreement regarding post-war Germany, and Joe and his fellow soliders were told the war was essentially “over”. Joe was killed just days later during a German counter attack near the Elbe River in Schönebeck, Germany. In the two weeks that followed, U.S. and Russian troops shook hands across the Elbe and Adolph Hitler committed suicide.
"An Infantryman From Hero Street" stars Emmanuel Juarez, Eric Juarez, and Matt Walsh; and features commentary by First Army Support Command Historian Captain Kevin Braafladt, Rock Island Arsenal; Dr. Yurida Ramirez, University of Illinois-Urbana; author Marc Wilson “Hero Street, USA”; author Carlos Harrison "The Ghosts of Hero Street"; and members of the Joe and Frank Sandoval family, including Tanilo Sandoval, Georgia Sandoval Herrera, and Irene Mawson. The Hero Street series music theme was scored by Emmy-nominated composer William Campbell.
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 over 150 service members since Mexican-American immigrants settled there in 1929.
Hero Street, a multi-part documentary series by Emmy® award-winning filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, explores the compelling true story of eight heroes: Tony Pompa, Frank Sandoval, William Sandoval, Claro Solis, Peter Masias, Joseph Sandoval, Joseph Gomez and John S. Muños.
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.
Special thanks goes to Lora Adams and WQPT-PBS for continued support on the Hero Street documentary series. WQPT provided its broadcast studio for filming portions of An Infantryman From Hero Street, and serves as Fourth Wall Films' broadcast premiere partner. WQPT-PBS partnered with Fourth Wall Films to co-produce the Emmy-nominated "Letters Home to Hero Street".
The Hero Street documentary series is made possible by the generous support of contributors In Memory of Georgia Sandoval Herrera, the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC)--Iowa, the Mexican American Veterans Association (M.A.V.A.)--Hero Street Chapter #4, Marc & Virginia Wilson, Bob & Blenda Ontiveros, Ken Sleeper & Dianne Manke, Chris Thompson, the City of Silvis, Dale Hendricks and Alison McCrary, Jessie Noriega, , and individual contributors like you.
Fourth Wall Films is grateful to the Putnam Museum, the premiere partner for "An Infantryman from Hero Street" and its other award-winning films.
Sponsors for this special premiere event are Jennie's Boxcar , Fred & Ethel's and The Beiderbecke Mansion Bed & Breakfast.
Contact us at [email protected] if you would like to be a sponsor of this special premiere event. HeroStreetMovie.com