"I got the idea for the Hometown Heroes banner program from interviewing veterans for the Veterans Project," Tom Salvas told TAPinto Chatham last November, when 45 banners went up on Main Street and nearby streets for the first time.
The banners on the lampposts and the video archive at the Library of the Chathams came from the same person and the same set of conversations, and many of the same people appear in both. On Wednesday, Nov. 11, the library will play those conversations all day, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Woman's Club Room. If you've walked past a banner and wondered who the person was, this is the day to find out.
The man with the camera
Salvas lives in Chatham Township. He was an Air Force captain from 1968 to 1973, including service in Germany during the Vietnam era, and he studied film at Boston University and communications at NYU. TAPinto calls him one of the founders of the library's Veterans Project of the Chathams.
The film training matters. The project's main body of work is a set of video interviews he recorded himself, and those are what the library will screen on Veterans Day.
By May 2021 the library was asking veterans and their families to contribute. The goal was to collect and archive audio, video and written histories of veterans who live or once lived in Chatham Borough or Chatham Township, and make them public. The Chatham Historical Society and the Chatham Township Historical Society are partners.
In 2024, Salvas told TAPinto Chatham that Chatham may be the only town in the county, and possibly the state, with a veterans history program of its own. He pointed out that the Library of Congress runs a national version, which he called "nationwide and very restrictive."
What's in the archive
The library's online collection currently has 12 video interviews by Salvas. They feature John Crouthamel, Joel Boroff, Mike Katz, Justin Strickland, Miles Gilmore, William Boyce Lum, Bert Abbazia, Anthony Loporto, John Eyre, Richard Loock, John W. Adams and Jack Conlan. The archive labels service from World War II through the Cold War, Vietnam, Iraq and the War on Terror. Some profiles list years of service instead of a named conflict.
The collection also holds three audio interviews recorded for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. Joseph R. May and Roger H. Went served in World War II, and William D. Berberich served during the Cold War.
Salvas has noted that the archive includes recent veterans as well as Vietnam-era ones, naming Gilmore and Strickland as examples of people "who served more recently."
Same names, two projects
When the borough council passed the Hometown Heroes banner resolution in November 2024, Salvas spoke at the meeting. A Hometown Heroes Banner Advisory Committee then ran nominations, design and installation. It drew members from both the Borough and the Township.
Compare the committee's veterans with the archive and the overlap is plain:
| Veteran | In the library's video archive | On the banner advisory committee |
|---|---|---|
| Tom Salvas | Recorded the interviews | Yes, and proposed the program |
| Justin Strickland | Yes | Yes, also a Borough Council member |
| Miles Gilmore | Yes | Yes |
| Michael "Mike" Katz | Yes | Yes |
| Richard "Rick" Loock | Yes | Yes |
| John Crouthamel | Yes | Yes |
| Jack Conlan | Yes | Yes |
The rest of the committee was Len Resto, Robert Schriek of the Chatham Library, Mayor Carolyn Dempsey, Borough Administrator Steve Williams, and borough special projects coordinator Anthony Farfalla.
So the banners grew out of the archive. People who told their stories on camera went on to help decide how the town would honor other veterans in public.
How the banners have grown
The 45 banners in fall 2025 were the first round. In her January 5, 2026 annual address, Mayor Dempsey said they could be seen on Main Street, outside Borough Hall, and on downtown side streets.
A second round opened in March 2026. Under the joint announcement posted March 6, residents of both towns could nominate family members or local veterans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces. Each banner required a $150 contribution, paid by check to the Borough of Chatham, and applications were due Friday, March 20. The plan was to hang the new banners for Memorial Day 2026 and keep them up through the Fourth of July.
The program has two display windows. The first banners went up for Veterans Day, and the second round was timed to Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. Each banner gives you a name and a face. The archive is where some of those veterans tell their own stories.
A Veterans Day route through the borough
The screening runs as a drop-in, so you can watch part or all of it. A historical exhibit will be on display as well. That leaves time to walk to the memorials that tell the older part of the story, starting at the library.
- The memorial group in front of the Library of the Chathams, 214 Main Street. It honors local residents lost in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War.
- The firefighters' plaque on the library's lower level. On May 13, 2025, the Chatham Borough Volunteer Fire Department unveiled a plaque honoring 74 of its firefighters who also served in the U.S. military. Former Fire Chief Charlie Salin, a Coast Guard veteran, unveiled it with Marine Corps veteran Jack Conlan, the same Conlan from the archive and the banner committee.
- The red oak and boulder at Borough Hall. In 1919, Chatham planted five red oaks on the front lawn of Public School #1, now Borough Hall, for five local soldiers who died in France in World War I. None of the original trees survived. On June 10, 2017, the Chatham Historical Society dedicated a new red oak with a boulder beneath it naming Lieut. Eugene P. Hubbard, Sgt. Van Horn D. Wolf, Private Paul Van Fleet, Private Fred Reinhold Pihlman and Private Frederick Percy Parcells.
- Memorial Park. Its first memorial was dedicated July 5, 1920, for Chatham residents who died in World War I. Monuments for later wars followed, and the park was rededicated May 31, 1997 for the borough's centennial, as Patch reported.
Taken in order, the route moves from carved names on stone to a tree, to a plaque, to recorded voices back inside the library.
Last year's borough Veterans Day ceremony was held at 1 p.m. in front of the Library of the Chathams. For this year's schedule, check chathamborough.org before you head out on the 11th.
Adding a story to the archive
The project is still collecting. Its stated purpose includes public access to veterans' stories for current and future generations, and support for local recognition on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. It accepts first-person audio or video accounts from veterans, plus oral histories from immediate family members of service members who served or died as a result of their service during a period of war. The library will also consider artifacts that veterans and families want to donate.
You can get involved in any of these ways:
- Fill out the project's online form
- Call 862-246-6108, and library staff will fill out the form for you
- Email [email protected]
- Pick up a print form at the library, 214 Main Street
You can also watch the full collection anytime on the Veterans Project of the Chathams page.
I've lived in Chatham for decades, and the most meaningful parts of this town are often the ones built by neighbors on their own time, like Tom Salvas with his camera and the volunteers who made the banners happen. If someone in your family served and you'd like help reaching the library's project, or you just want to talk about the people and places that make the Chathams home, I'd love to hear from you. Karen Torrente. Let's Connect.
