When General Michael Byrnes passed away in January of 2023, tributes poured in from all over the state. A decorated military veteran, Byrnes served in the United States Army for 30 years before retiring in 1998, after which he had a distinguished career in the private sector.

Now he will have another honor added to his name, as he was announced as one of the 14 posthumous inductees into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame.

Byrnes, who was born in 1946, came from a prominent family in town. His father, Thomas, served as a state representative and the town administrator in Bristol, and he was honored as chief marshal of the Bristol Fourth of July parade. Son Michael went to Bristol schools before graduating from Colt Memorial High School in 1963, and then Providence College in 1967.

Byrnes went on to have a distinguished career in the military, serving in foreign nations from Vietnam to Germany. In 1987, he became a military liaison in Hong Kong, and from 1991 to 1997, he served in the U.S. embassy in Beijing, China. Byrnes retired in 1998, after being promoted to Major General the previous year.

After returning to Bristol in 2008, he became deeply involved in the Bristol community. He was an active board member of Linden Place, a member of the zoning review advisory committee, and he co-founded Explore Bristol. In addition, he was named the Patriotic Speaker at the Fourth of July parade in 2000.

Byrnes joins a group of 14 recently deceased Rhode Islanders in the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. The group, which includes honorees such as former Gov. Lincoln Almond, is selected by a committee in a way similar to the Veterans Committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Dr. Patrick Conley, the former chairman of the hall of fame, is still involved as a member of the historian’s committee, which is the committee in charge of these inductions.

“The historian’s committee made a decision several years ago, back during my presidency, to hold periodic inductions for recently deceased individuals who somehow might have slipped by for one reason or another and failed to be inducted during their lifetime.”

The “recently deceased” elections have been held twice previously, once in 2016 and another time in 2022. Conley nominated Byrnes this year, alongside his two other nominations, Johnny Egan and Ray Dwyer.

“I knew the family well,” Conley said. “I was a close personal friend of his father, Tommy.”

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony was held on Sunday, Nov. 17.