A decision by the Green Ridge Neighborhood Association to honor former President Joe Biden with a “Hometown Hero” banner outside his childhood home in Scranton sparked anger and confusion among area veterans.
Laura Agostini, president of the association, expected some politically fueled commentary when the banner was erected along North Washington Avenue, but didn’t envision the level of outrage it prompted.
“We are well aware that he is not a veteran and we did anticipate some political blowback, but not to the extent that it has gone,” she said. “We had to notify the police because there were threats made against us — and people were threatening to tear down the banner — which concerned us. The attention that it has garnered, and the backlash from it, has been extremely surprising.”
Air Force veteran Mike Gavin, 78, of Scranton, who served from 1966 to 1970 — including a stint in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 — believes allowing nonveterans to be depicted on the banners detracts from their significance.
“I feel the purpose of those banners was to honor veterans — not necessarily even war veterans, but veterans, period, who served in the military for their country,” Gavin said. “That was why they started it and that’s why it should continue that way. I voted for Biden, I like Joe Biden, but I believe you taint the purpose of the banners being put up in the first place, number one, and number two, there are a million other ways to honor a former president than putting that banner up. If they change it for one, they’re going to have to change it for everybody, and the whole purpose of doing it in the first place is gone. As a veteran, it loses the meaning.”
Agostini stressed the association never meant to diminish the sacrifices made by veterans when it chose to recognize Biden with a banner.
“We decided being that President Biden’s childhood home was in our neighborhood, it would be appropriate to put up a banner for him as commander in chief,” she said. “The matter was voted on at a neighborhood association meeting, and there were veterans and active duty military in attendance. I am in no way demeaning what veterans do for our country, but I think this has been blown way out of proportion.”
Agostini stated that, as of Thursday afternoon, the association had not received a complaint from anyone who purchased one of the approximately 120 banners.
“My husband, Brett, is a combat veteran and he has no qualms about this, and we had a 72-year-old disabled veteran who actually helped put the banners up, and he had no concerns about it,” she said. “There have been other organizations and projects across the county with the hometown heroes banners who have put up first responders and others who are not veterans, so it did not occur to us that anyone would be upset about it because (Biden) is not a veteran.”
The fate of the banner on North Washington Avenue remains unclear at the moment, Agostini said.
“As of right now, it’s going to remain up, but we haven’t made a decision yet,” she said.
Army veteran Andy Chomko, who served four tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2003 to 2007, previously worked on the West Scranton Hometown Heroes banner project and maintains that honoring Biden goes against the main focus of the program.
“I understand the Hometown Heroes banner project might not be just for veterans, but it’s reserved for people who did stuff heroically and with valor,” he said. “The original intent of the program was to honor veterans — and then if people did something heroic, with valor, like they stopped a gunman, they ran into a burning building, or they saved someone’s life. That’s what is missing here, and when standards get moved and circumstances shift, veterans notice.”
Chomko first leaned of the controversial banner through a text message on Friday night, and received calls from several other veterans on Saturday morning, he said.
“Two of them said they were having a real tough time with this, and this isn’t right,” he said. “That’s when I said we have to draw some attention to this, and we’re going to make it right.”
Chomko said the design of Biden’s banner — which he noted looks similar to those of veterans — raised some concerns in the military community, he said.
“The picture portrays it just as if it was a veteran,” Chomko said. “It’s not the 46th president of the United States with a presidential seal, or ‘Green Ridge proud,’ their intent was pretty clear. It was ill-advised and not very well thought out. I think that’s what strikes the chord with so many veterans. It’s portrayed as the same, and it’s not. Yes, he was the commander in chief. Did he serve in the military? No.”
A committee created by Scranton City Council will determine if it’s feasible to rename Wyoming Avenue or another prominent city street for President Joe Biden. In November, the city designated a portion of North Washington Avenue outside Biden’s childhood home as “Joe Biden Way.”
A note written by President-Elect Joe Biden on Election Day is seen on the wall of Anne Kearns’ Green Ridge home, the childhood home of the President-Elect, in Scranton on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021.
Then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden greets supporters Nov. 3, Election Day, as he leaves his boyhood home in Scranton’s Green Ridge section.