WESTFIELD – On Nov. 8 the Barnes Air National Guard base will honor its former commander, Maj. Gen. George W. Keefe, by renaming its Logistics Building after him.

Keefe died in June of 2018 at age 79.

Col. Peter Green, the current commander of the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes, said this is the first time they have honored a former commander by naming a building after them. He said in the past they have named roads after enlisted personnel, including Austin Cooper Boulevard. Green added that every May the 104th Fighter Wing honors the fallen with an F-100 ceremony.

When deciding how to honor Keefe, Green said it was an easy decision to name the logistics building after him.

“If you take a look at Gen. Keefe’s career, he spent about 20 years in logistics. It just seemed to be a natural synergy between his career and our ability to be able to memorialize him with the logistics complex,” he said.

Keefe worked his way up through the ranks before ultimately finishing his career as the adjutant general of Massachusetts.

“Adjutant general is the senior military officer who reports to the governor and is in charge of all Army and Air National Guard members in the commonwealth,” Green explained.

He added that Keefe was one of the first non-rated vice commanders for the 104th Fighter Wing. “Typically that position had always been a rated position, for example, a pilot would be in that position,” he said.

One of the accomplishments during Keefe’s tenure was overseeing the deployment of the 104th Fighter Wing during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“We deployed to southwest Asia to support ground operations there. That was the first time this wing had deployed in such a large volume for a wartime contingency,” Green said.

To honor Keefe, Green said the building will be named the Maj. Gen. George W. Keefe Logistics Complex. He added they will also have a plaque that includes a picture of him and a summary of his career. The display will also include some of his memorabilia.

“We’re going to have display cases to have stuff like his service dress uniform and a jacket he wore during the Berlin Air Lift,” he said.

Green said they will be putting the memorabilia in the front lobby to serve as an example for what the logisticians should do and can be.

The ceremony will be at 3 p.m. on Nov. 8. Green said there will be several distinguished military and civilian visitors, along with Keefe’s four sons present Friday.

“There’s going to be a large contingent of distinguished visitors, family and friends,” he said.

For the ceremony itself, Green said they will be covering the plaques and display cases covered before they are unveiled.             “We’ll have some speeches, I will be speaking and his son Brigadier Gen. James Keefe will be speaking. And then we’ll have the revealing of the plaque and invite people in to take a look at the memorabilia. And there will be a reception after,” he said.

Green said Keefe was a personal mentor to him throughout his military career after he became a lieutenant when Keefe was a major.

“I’ve known him throughout my entire career and he’s been a personal mentor to me over the years. And it was truly sad to see him finally pass,” Green said.

Green added that it is an honor to be able to honor Keefe at Barnes since he was there from essentially the beginning of the base, which opened in 1949, and he later joined in 1954.

“There are very few others I would think that we would memorialize in this way for their contribution to this wing, the Air National Guard, National Guard and state,” he said.

“He cared about the people and he cared about the mission. When you had a chance to know Gen. Keefe he always made you feel like you were the most valuable person he was talking to at that time. He had a personal power that people just liked him and people responded,” Green said.