Maj. Gen. William Monk III and Florika Dima unveil the plaque

STEWART AIRPORT – The new $19 million, 80,000 square foot Armed Forces Reserve Center adjacent to Stewart Airport was dedicated Sunday and named the Sgt. Catalin Dima Center.

Dima, a Romanian immigrant who joined the US Army shortly after the September 11 attacks, was killed in Iraq on November 13, 2004, the same day he was promoted to sergeant and one month after he became a naturalized US citizen during a ceremony in Iraq.

Dima had previously served in the Romanian Navy before he moved to Smallwood, near White Lake in Sullivan County.

His widow, Florika, and their three children, Christian, Angela and John, were present to dedicate the new facility.

“As hard as his loss is for me and his children, I know he died doing what he loved,” she said. “He was serving his country as a new citizen and wanted to be his best.”

State Senator William Larkin of Cornwall, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, addressed his formal remarks to the Dima children.

“Make sure you get a picture in front of the building with your family, because you want to tell everybody, this is in honor of, who?” he asked. Christian Dima, sitting with his mother, sister and brother, said, “My dad.”

Col. Marin-Claudiu Bibirita, Romanian Minister Counsellor, Military Advisor with the Permanent Mission of Romania to the United Nations, attended and referred to Dima, a native of his own country, as a true American.

“I am extremely honored to represent the Romanian Ministry of National Defense at this Ceremony in joining you to pay a sincere homage to the American hero Sgt. Catalin Dima, who was born in Romania and lost his life in Iraq in November 2004.”

The Armed Forces Reserve Center incorporates administrative and storage space for the 411th Engineer Brigade of the US Army Reserve and B. Battery 1st Battalion 258th Field Artillery and the 1156th Transportation Company of the New York Army National Guard.