{"id":43070,"date":"2024-08-29T15:49:05","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T15:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/08\/29\/at-least-17-guardsmen-have-died-while-on-texas-border-mission\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:27:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:27:52","slug":"at-least-17-guardsmen-have-died-while-on-texas-border-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2024\/08\/29\/at-least-17-guardsmen-have-died-while-on-texas-border-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"At least 17 Guardsmen have died while on Texas border mission"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At least 17 Texas Guardsmen have died while deployed during the contentious mission to secure the southern border in the past three years, <\/b>a Texas military official told state lawmakers earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Family <\/b>members of some of <\/b>those service members have <\/b>received $500,000 in compensation thanks to a recently authorized state death benefit, but several others were denied or have their claim remaining under review, <\/b>according to Shelia Bailey Taylor, the Texas Military Department director of state administration, who revealed the death toll<\/a> on Aug. 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The troops served on Operation Lone Star, a mission consisting of Texas Guard members and other state law enforcement officials that Governor Greg Abbott said<\/a> was enacted to stop drugs and or people from entering into Texas across the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July, Border Patrol recorded just over 56,400 encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border, the lowest monthly total since September 2020, according to<\/a> U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That followed an announcement<\/a> in June by President Joe Biden that temporarily suspended the entry of certain noncitizens across the southern border.<\/p>\n\n\n\t