Governor Kathy Hochul today recognized the extraordinary service of New York State’s defense forces by presenting citations to four individuals and two groups of defense force members who have gone above and beyond in fulfilling their missions and representing our state and nation to the world. Major General Michel Natali, Assistant Adjutant General of the New York National Guard, joined Governor Hochul for tomorrow's ceremony.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the Governor's remarks is available.

PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Welcome to the home of the Harlem Hellfighters. Please be seated. Please be seated.

First of all, I want to acknowledge our Major General Natali. You've been an extraordinary leader. I'm grateful for all you have done for the men and women, who listen to you, who you guide every single day. And you are a perfect example of why leadership matters. And I want to thank you for your service to our state and to our nation.

Let's give him another round of applause here.

Viviana DeCohen, our head of New York State Department of Veteran Services, a military veteran herself.

Assemblymember Inez Dickens has joined us. This is home turf for her. And I often call her a Harlem Hellfighter as well because she is feisty, she is feisty. You know, a little over 12 hours ago I spoke at a 9/11 Memorial Service, over in Staten Island, I took the ferry over. And I had a chance to praise the heroic efforts of the NYPD and the New York City Fire Department on that – on what they did 23 years ago.

But today I have an opportunity to honor our own, New York's own. Every single morning, New Yorkers start their day, they make breakfast, they get their kids off to school, they get to work. They worry about their lives and the tasks that lie ahead of them. Typical things, everyday things. But when members of the New York State defense forces wake up, all of you, and those you represent, they worry about those things.

But they also have to put their own worries and their own lives on hold when they put on their uniforms. Because they are responding to a higher calling. And that is very simple. To do whatever it takes to protect fellow New Yorkers. And keep them safe. Safe from disasters, whether they're man-made disasters, crises, or made by Mother Nature.

They are our very best. You are our very best. And that's why I know that last year, for example, the New York Army National Guard led the nation, led the nation in recruitment and retention. We are the very best. And the federal government ranked our Army National Guard number one for strength health.

That's because we have people who want to be in these positions. They could do other things. They're talented. Other callings are out there. But they choose to serve in a profound way that many, many have the option to do, but choose not to. They want to excel. They want to be the best. And it's because of them that allows the rest of us to focus on our homes, our families, our lives.

So today it's – I'm really proud to be here. I've been here a number of times, the home of the historic Harlem Hellfighters and we're talking about why they're called the Hellfighters. The Germans called them the Hellfighters because they were so tough. They were so tough and we're proud of what they did in World War I and that legacy continues.

That legacy of strength, especially when the time calls for it, but also of being the very best. So that's why we're here to honor four New York State Defense Forces members. and two outstanding units who have gone above and beyond in fulfilling their missions, representing our state, to the nation and to the world.

Unfortunately, Major General Raymond Shields is not able to join us today. We've done a lot of events with him. Many of them are blizzards, snowstorms, flooding events. We see each other in some of our state's toughest moments. But right now, he's in Sweden, the newest NATO member, for the first mission of the military partnership that we signed together in July. Aligning our forces with theirs.

So, I told them I'll take that excuse. Sounds very important. We'll catch you next time, but we're well represented here. But, Sweden could have picked any state, by the way. They chose to align with us. Because, again, that reputation for excellence. The very best. And so, here we are today.

We're here because of this reputation. Also, we're known around the world. I don't know if everybody else knows this. We have forces that are training alongside people in Denmark, South Africa, and Brazil. But I want to talk about the people who are not abroad. Those who are with us here today.

Sergeant Brian Salcedo and Corporal Patricio Rubilar, both members of the New York Naval Militia. Now, the Naval Militia is the oldest continuously operating Naval Militia in the United States. Do you know that? You don't know that? You do now. They have a tough job. We've asked them to do something that is really a humanitarian mission in our own state

Supporting and protecting the newly arrived migrants. Many vulnerable children and women in particular. Families just getting started, trying to build their lives, living the American dream. In June, Sergeant Salcedo responded to a literal call for help. A mother was screaming.

How many of you are parents? Any parents out here? A mother screaming. That's a primal scream when something is happening to your child. Screaming because her little one had stopped breathing. Every parent's worst nightmare. Sergeant sprang into action. He used his training and performed the Heimlich maneuver. Literally saved that baby's life. And the baby coughed up a dime because he knew how to do this. She's alive and well today because of this quick action.

Corporal Rubilar saved the life of a child just this past June. A six year old was also choking. And a year later, he saved another child whose hand was trapped in an elevator door that had closed. Imagine the horror of that

Corporal Rubliar saved the life of a child just this past June, a six year old was also choking. And a year later, he saved another child whose hand was trapped in an elevator door that had closed. Imagine the horror of that. It was a situation where you could lose a limb or even die. Corporal Rubliar grabbed a crowbar — and a feat of incredible, physical strength pried that door open. The little one escaped unharmed.

And just days before, he demonstrated great emotional strength. He was on duty in Queens and encountered a woman who was in distress, cut her own wrists in an attempt to kill herself. He spoke with her in Spanish, helped calm her, gave her the support she needed while another member provided first aid. Again, saving people's lives.

Our defense forces aren't just supporting the migrants mission. We have Staff Sergeant Joel Strickland and Sergeant Desany Jacques. They're assigned to the Joint Task Force Empire Shield.

This now has been established since the aftermath of 9/11 23 years ago. There are still around 100 members from New York's defense forces who responded to those attacks 23 years ago who are still serving today. Extraordinary, extraordinary life of service. And it's that joint-terrorism task force, that joint task force that keeps us safe from terrorism and threats.

And they are assessed in many places we need them, including the subway system. On a particular day, Staff Sergeant Strickland and Sergeant Jock reporting to their checkpoints at Sutphin Boulevard. A man had just jumped the turnstile and stabbed a waiting passenger in the back.

The victim was bleeding — grave danger. These soldiers literally jumped into action. They ran over and immediately administered first aid — It was a very serious wound. It was their training that was key in stabilizing the environment. If they hadn't been there at that moment, and with the training they brought and their understanding of what to do, the ending would have been vastly different

I want to make sure people know these stories, because I knew the stories. But the world needs to know what we are willing to do, what you do every day — and ultimately, in these cases — the lives that go on because of the men and women who are part of New York's Defense Forces.

Now, in addition to recognizing these four individuals, I want to acknowledge the incredible contributions of all the members of the Joint Task Force Empire Shield and New York's 106th Rescue Wing.

They have stepped up in an incredible way in New York City's transit system. Let's look at some of the statistics if you want to measure success. Right now, lethal and gun violence in New York State is back to all time lows — the lows we had back in 2017, 2019, when no one was talking about crime. People felt safe. And the city had the lowest number of murders and shootings in decades.

Last August, we've had the lowest number of murders and shootings that we've had in this state in decades. Four decades. Now, a lot of people don't feel that progress yet. I understand that. Emotions are hard to change. This has become, as people, an individual's reality. But the data doesn't lie.

Back in March, we heard a different dynamic. January, we'd start to see a spike in crime on the subway. We'd worked so hard to drive it down. And all of a sudden, there was a spike. People were anxious. I sat down with the Mayor, his team, my team. Subway crime had all of a sudden surged 14 percent.

I knew we had to all of a sudden turn it around dramatically and quickly. So we did not go back to those bad old days when people were literally too afraid to take the subway. So we launched a five point plan to help people feel safer and be safer.

And one of the things I did was I launched an initiative to deploy the New York National Guard to support NYPD and our transit police. You know what's happened since then? Crime that was starting to go up 14 percent is now down 12 percent. And violent crime on the subways plunged 17 percent just since March. That's what the physical presence of the men and women in uniform has done. They're there to be a calming presence. Let people know they're going to be okay. Don't underestimate what that means.

I can't tell you the people who come up to me on the street and in diners and phone calls I receive saying “Thank you for putting the National Guard in the subways just to calm things down and make us feel safe.” So I salute that. That is exactly the outcome I wanted and you achieved it.

So that is extraordinary. So since the 1990s, if you take out the pandemic period, which was an aberration, but since the 1990s, only 2009 had less crime than this year. Is that what your reality is, or what you're reading about? No. But that's amazing. If this trend holds, this could be the second best year in subway safety in three decades

Our men and women helped make that happen. Every day, they carry out 120 missions across the subway system. And their work with, again, NYPD, which is primary. They're doing outstanding work. And our MTA Transit Police are doing outstanding work. We've gone from 50 subway crimes every week at the beginning of the year down to just 29 last week. So having the National Guard is that visible presence and in our transit hubs shows New Yorkers we're taking their safety very seriously. It's a big deterrent. People think about doing some harm to somebody and they see one of us in uniform – they're gonna think twice about it. That's exactly what I wanted to have as a result.

So we're gonna continue. Let's continue this. No reason to stop right now. Let's get down to the point where people's perception matches the data and people get to a place– people feel better, we'll keep doing that. But right now this is a security blanket that we've laid over the subway system to let people know they're safe.

Don't underestimate what that means for people and the psychology of this community is so important. I'm forever indebted to them for their service, I truly, truly am.

We're also lastly honoring the 106th Rescue Wing here today. As I said, extraordinary individuals. It goes way back to World War II, when they flew bombers and fought fascism in Europe

And these are not my words. My mother would not appreciate this, but they've been called badasses. That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. Absolute badasses. My staffer said that, not me. But to me, that goes to every member of our defense forces. But this, this defense, this rescuing is really quite extraordinary.

But this rescuing, is really quite extraordinary. They rescue people — aerial rescues from helicopters when people are trapped at sea, and they put their own lives in danger. They never give a second thought to themselves. They fly into danger when the floodwaters are rising and the hurricanes pummeled our coast where ships are lost at sea. They respond everywhere, and I'm so in awe of what they do. And they also played a pivotal role in the search for the missing Titan submarine last year. I'm grateful for that as well.

They train all over the world in the toughest conditions because they know they have the skills and the desire to make a difference, and they know someday their fellow New Yorkers may be depending on them. You can tell how proud I am. I could go on and on and on about so many, and I'll never get tired of bragging about the strength, the confidence, the bravery and the intelligence of all of our soldiers.

As you may know, every time there's a storm coming or it’s not even here yet, or a thousand year flooding event predicted, or major tornadoes — we've had more tornadoes in New York State this year than ever in history. We had 23 in July alone. Another thousand year flooding event on Long Island just a couple weeks ago. Blizzard in Buffalo is the worst in the history of our City and our State.

So, my first question is, did you call the National Guard? That's my first line of defense. I'll get the snow plows there, I'll get everybody else there, I'll get the people to remove the tree limbs when the damage has happened, I'll get the utility crews there after — I want the National Guard there first. Call them up. Sorry, everybody. I know you're trying to watch your kid's softball game or have a date with your spouse and make up for a lot of lost time. But you give me that comfort of knowing when I say the National Guard is gonna be there before the disaster hits, I sleep better at night.

Please know how grateful I am for that. New Yorkers sleep better at night. You don't get a lot of sleep, but we do. We sleep more comfortably knowing that you're there with your skills, your training and your passion.

So, we're going to continue doing that. It's a sense of security that we all have, and I needed to come here and tell you I don't take that for granted one second of my life.

I want to introduce Major General Natali. I want to thank him for — as I said, leadership matters in these roles. And the attitude — the “can do” attitude, the way you motivate others — again, don't underestimate the power of that as well. Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a warm welcome to our Major General Natali.