By Hola America News
Veterans Day Weekend on the Putnam Giant Screen
Quad Cities, IA — “The Last to Fall from Hero Street: John Muños Story”, a fifth episode in a nine-part short series by Fourth Wall Films, will premiere on Saturday, November 8th in the Putnam Museum’s National Geographic Giant Screen Theater, 1717 W. 12th St. in Davenport, Iowa during Veterans Day weekend. Advance tickets are available at Putnam.org.
PFC John S. Muños grew up in a boxcar home on 2nd Street (now named Hero Street) in Silvis, Illinois. He married his sweetheart, Mary Bessera, three months before he entered the Army on January 15, 1951. An ill-timed furlough allowed him to visit his wife and family one last time before deployment, but it also sealed his fate.
“The last time I saw him, he came to say goodbye, and I was pregnant with my fourth child,” Mary Muños Ramirez, 95, said of her brother. “I sent him a picture of my new baby boy. I got the letter and picture back. He had already been killed.”
He served in the Korean War with Co. F of the 38th Regimental Combat Team, Second Infantry Division. On August 27, 1951, at age 23, John was among 740 Americans killed in the Battle of Bloody Ridge. His body was never recovered.
“My great uncle John was in the thick of things when he died. He was in a very tough place. But he served with distinction,” said Brian Muños, retired Navy. “He gave his very, very best.”
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 100 service members since Mexican-American immigrants settled there in 1929.
“I’m just one of many that served from that street. And eight didn’t make it. And, we memorialize that. But we remember them, their families, and their sacrifice,” Brian said,” And the story has to go on.”
“Hero Street”, a documentary series by Emmy® Award-winning filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle, explores the compelling true story of eight Mexican-America heroes: Tony Pompa, Frank Sandoval, William Sandoval, Claro Solis, Peter Masias, Joseph Sandoval, Joseph Gomez and John S. Muños.
The special premiere event is sponsored by Jennie’s Boxcar and the Beiderbecke Inn. The Premiere Celebration includes the new film, a special musical tribute to Veterans, an encore showing of “A Bridge too Far from Hero Street: William Sandoval’s Story”, and Q&A with film participants.
“The Last to Fall from Hero Street: John Muños’ Story” 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; a Quad City Arts Dollars grant provided by Illinois Arts Council Agency, Hubbell-Waterman Foundation and John Deere; a grant from Quad Cities Community Foundation – Ontiveros Family Endowed Fund; and a grant from the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado – Wilson Family Fund; and generous donations made In Memory of Tanilo Sandoval.
Fourth Wall Films is a five-time Emmy® Award winning independent film and video production company formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline, Illinois. For more information visit FourthWallFilms.com. Truth First Film Alliance, Inc. serves as the fiscal sponsor for the Hero Street documentary series project.
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