5,000 Miles From Home, the first feature-length documentary from Stone Park, IL-based Italian American Veterans Museum and Library, will make its television debut on WTTW-TV (Channel 11) at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25.

The film, funded by a grant from the UNICO Foundation and narrated by Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Bob Sirott, tells the story of a generation of Italian-American young people from Chicago who answered the call to serve their country during World War II. Through in-depth interviews with more than 20 veterans, historical film footage, and rare archival photographs, 5,000 Miles From Home examines the lives of these men—from their humble beginnings in working-class Chicago, to their experiences at the front, to the very different lives they would lead when they returned home.

The WTTW premiere represents an opportunity to share this unique story with a broader audience, said Anthony J. Fornelli, the film’s executive producer and chairman of the Italian American Veterans Museum and Library.

“From the very beginning of this project, we wanted to share the experiences of our community’s World War II veterans–not just with our local ethnic community but with the entire Chicago area,” Fornelli says. “WTTW’s stellar track record of highlighting the city’s diverse cultures made this a perfect partnership, and we’re immensely proud to be a part of their programming.”

The documentary was conceived in 2007 by Fornelli as a fundraising and awareness vehicle for the museum, as well as a tribute to his uncle James “Lon” Fornelli. James Fornelli was an Army sergeant stationed at Guadalcanal during the war, and earned a Silver Star after single-handedly dispatching 13 Japanese snipers in an effort to get his platoon out of a battle zone and back to safety.

“Lon didn’t talk much about what he did during the war,“ Fornelli says. “Lon was very typical of that generation—men who did their duty and returned home to their lives without much fanfare or introspection about the war. The goal of 5,000 Miles From Home was to spotlight these heroes and offer them the opportunity to share their unique experiences with future generations.”

Fornelli and fellow producer Paul Basile, who is the editor of the newspaper Fra Noi, enlisted the help of co-directors Jim Distasio and Mark McCutcheon of Forward March Media to bring the veterans’ stories to life. After amassing more than 50 hours worth of interviews and historical footage, the filmmakers began the arduous task of assembling all of the pieces into a feature-length movie.

“We were blessed with a treasure trove of information—everything from the vets’ oral histories to the personal mementos and photographs they shared—that gave the film a distinct perspective not typically seen in your run-of-the-mill war documentary,” Distasio says. “It’s a one-of-a-kind story about these humble Italian-American guys from the old neighborhood who contributed to a defining moment in American history.”

To give the film a distinctly Chicago voice to match its local subject matter, the filmmakers approached newscaster Bob Sirott to serve as the film’s narrator. Sirott, who previously hosted the news program Chicago Tonight on WTTW, donated his time in an effort to keep the film on budget.

“5,000 Miles From Home is a touching portrait of Chicago’s Italian-American community and its contributions to America’s victory in World War II,” Sirott said. “This is a stirring and worthy tribute, not only to this proud ‘Greatest Generation,’ but also to the uniqueness of the American way of life.”

DVDs of the film are available for sale at www.5000milesfromhome.com.