COAL VALLEY, Ill. — The public is invited to a special screening of "An Infantryman from Hero Street" at the Robert R. Jones Library in Coal Valley on Tuesday, August 6.
The half-hour screening will begin at 1 p.m., followed by a Q&A with the Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmakers, Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films.
"An Infantryman from Hero Street" is the fourth episode in the multi-part documentary series that dives into the true stories of eight Mexican-American heroes from Silvis, Illinois. The documentary received a regional Emmy nomination in November 2023.
It tells the story of Tony Pompa, Frank Sandoval, William Sandoval, Claro Solis, Peter Masias, Joseph Sandoval, Joseph Gomez and John S. Muños.
They all came from the same block and a half long stretch of Second Street in Silvis. During World War II and the Korean War, all eight of them lost their lives. That is the most men lost from one particular street in the entire country.
Over the last century that same stretch of Silvis, now known as Hero Street, has provided more than 150 service members. Most of them, hailing from Mexican-American immigrant families.
The fourth episode, that will be shown at this special screening, focuses on Pvt. Joseph Sandoval. He was born to Mexican immigrants, in a boxcar in the Silvis rail yard. By 1944, Sandoval was married, with two young sons, when he was drafted and shipped to Britain with the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment.
Sandoval's unit fought in the second stage of the Normandy Invasion. By April 1945, he and his fellow soldiers were told the war was essentially over. Then just days later, Sandoval was killed during a German counter attack near the Elbe River in Schönebeck, Germany.
Within two weeks, U.S and Russian troops shook hands across the Elbe and Adolph Hitler committed suicide.
Fourth Wall Films is an independent film and video production company. It was formerly located in Los Angeles, before moving to Moline.
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