(Dubois, WY) – “It was exciting. It was emotional,” filmmaker Mark Pedri said about the journey retracing his grandfather’s steps as a WWII Prisoner of War.
A journey which can be experienced in the film Dear Sirs screening at the National Museum of Military Vehicles tomorrow, August 6.
Mark, along with the film’s producer Carrie McCarthy, cycled over 500 miles across Germany and a portion of France in the winter to learn the story of Sgt. Silvio Pedri.
Photos, letters and documents detailing Silvio’s time in WWII, including his time as a POW were discovered by Mark a decade after his death. A part of Silvio’s life he knew nothing about.
Mark and Carrie’s journey began in Rock Springs after they moved into Silvio’s house to unpack all of the pieces of the story they could find.
“It came to the point where we had hit the end, and we couldn’t fill in a lot of holes of the story,” Carrie shared. “We realized we had to go to Europe.”
The two spent six weeks in France and Germany.
“We would bike for a few days to the next spot,” Carrie explained. “Stop, film, learn from the archives and historians, and then bike again.”
Finding the people to share their stories along the journey was more difficult than the language barrier, they shared.
The film has screened in Europe and has now come back home to Wyoming for a summer tour, which is ending this weekend in Dubois.
Screenings of the film will be held at the Museum at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., with a special filmmaker Q&A at 3:30 p.m. There will be no additional charges to see the film or take part in the discussion that will follow. Guests who would also like to tour the Museum will be subject to normal admission charges. Veterans and active duty servicemen and women are always admitted free. WyomingPBS and Wyoming Humanities are supporting the Wyoming Screening Tour of the film.
Carrie and Mark shared a screening is being planned for Lander this fall/winter. County 10 will have the latest information on that planned event.