San Diego – Two members of the service killed during a border security mission in New Mexico last week identified as American Marines based in Camp Pendleton in San Diego County.
The First Marine Division identified them as Lance CPL. Albert A. Aguilera, 22, from Riverside, California, and Lance CPL. Marcelino M. Gamino, 28, from Fresno, California.
They were declared dead at the University Medical Center of El Paso, Texas, said the division in a statement. A third marine wounded next to them was in critical condition at the medical center, he said.
The three were in a vehicle that was part of a caravan when he crashed Tuesday morning, the division said.
The accident in an area north of El Paso was reported shortly before 9 in the morning on New Mexico Highway, near the Santa Teresa Border Patrol Station in Santa Teresa, the affiliate of El Paso de NBC reported.
The Marines were part of the southern border of the military’s task force, which seeks to increase security along the border between the United States and Mexico. This year, the US forces were under consolidated military command after President Donald Trump declared an emergency and took advantage of the defense budget for the effort.
The First Marine Division said in a statement that Aguilera and Gamino were combat engineers with the 1st Battalion of Combat Engineers in Camp Pendleton. Gamino was decorated with the National Defense Service Medal and a maritime service deployment tape.
He deployed in Darwin, Australia, as part of a rotation force last year, the division said.
Last month, almost 3,000 active service troops were deployed on the border between the United States and Mexico as part of Trump’s effort to stop migrants and drug trafficking.
Trump has not formally commented on the deaths of the Marines.
The Veronica Escobar representative, D-Texas, who represents El Paso, said in a statement: “It saddens me the loss of two members of the US service who were killed in yesterday’s accident in Santa Teresa. I am praying so that the third member of the service remains in serious recovery conditions, and I am thinking of the families of all involved.”
Lieutenant Marine Tyrone Colonel A. Barrion, commander of the 1st Battalion of Combat Engineers, said in the Declaration of the Marine Division of the first statement that the loss of the two bodies of Lance “feels deeply” in the military branch.
“I extend my most sincere condolences and prayers to the families of our fallen brothers,” he said. “Our highest priority at this time is to ensure that their families and marines affected by their death are fully supported during this difficult time.”
The cause of the accident remained under investigation, the division said.
