Marine Corps
Marines killed in vehicle accident near US-Mexico border were combat engineers
Stars and Stripes
April 18, 2025
Lance Cpl. Albert A. Aguilera, 22, of Riverside, Calif., enlisted in the Marine Corps in March 2023 and was promoted to lance corporal the following spring. (U.S. Marine Corps)
The Marine Corps has identified the two Marines killed in a vehicle crash earlier this week while supporting Joint Task Force–Southern Border operations near the U.S.–Mexico border.
Lance Cpl. Albert A. Aguilera, 22, of Riverside, Calif., and Lance Cpl. Marcelino M. Gamino, 28, of Fresno, Calif., died April 15 after their vehicle crashed during a convoy movement near Santa Teresa, N.M., according to a statement issued Thursday by the 1st Marine Division.
Both Marines were combat engineers assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Aguilera enlisted in March 2023 and was promoted to lance corporal the following spring, the statement said. Gamino enlisted in May 2022 and was promoted to lance corporal last summer while he was deployed to Australia with Marine Rotational Force-Darwin.
A third Marine from the same unit remains in critical condition at University Medical Hospital in El Paso, Texas.
“The loss of Lance Cpl. Aguilera and Lance Cpl. Gamino is deeply felt by all of us,” Lt. Col. Tyrone A. Barrion, commander of the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion and Task Force Sapper, said in the statement. “I extend my heartfelt condolences and prayers to the families of our fallen brothers. Our top priority right now is to ensure that their families, and the Marines affected by their passing, are fully supported during this difficult time.”
Lance Cpl. Marcelino M. Gamino, 28, of Fresno, Calif., enlisted in the Marine Corps in May 2022 and was promoted to lance corporal in August 2024. (U.S. Marine Corps)
The Marines were on duty when the accident occurred around 8:50 a.m. along N.M. Highway 9 near the Santa Teresa Border Patrol Station, according to the division and local law enforcement. They were driving a civilian vehicle to El Paso, about 20 miles east of the Border Patrol station.
The accident involved a silver Jeep Gladiator four-door truck, according to video from the scene taken by KFOX, a local TV station.
The accident remains under investigation.
The task force assumed control of the southern border mission on March 14 as part of President Donald Trump’s emphasis on controlling the flow of people and materiel crossing the Mexican border. Roughly 6,600 active-duty service members are deployed to the mission, according to the joint task force.
However, troops have been working in support of Customs and Border Protection since Trump first deployed them in 2018. The mission continued under former President Joe Biden with National Guard troops rotating to the southern border.