Secretary of War Pete Hegseth awarded several Marines with the Mexican Border Defense Medal during an award ceremony. The award, which draws inspiration from the Mexican Border Service Medal established in 1918, was established in 2025.
To receive the award, service members “must have been permanently assigned, attached or detailed to a unit that deployed to participate in a designated DOD military operation supporting CBP within the area of eligibility for 30 consecutive or nonconsecutive days, from Jan. 20 to a future termination date to be determined,” the War Department explained last year.
During the ceremony, Hegseth said, “The Mexican Border Defense Medal was established in 1918 to stop other incursions and invasions, and so we’re not creating something new. We actually revived the exact same medal from 1918 to be given to all of you today as a reflection that this service is an extension. We stand on the shoulders of other great Americans who defended this nation, and it always requires the real 1% to do difficult things, at difficult places, without enough recognition.”
President Trump awarded thirteen soldiers and Marines the medal in December.
“On Day 1 of my administration, I signed an executive order making it [the] core mission of the United States military to protect and defend the homeland, and today we’re here to honor our military men and women for their central role in the protection of our border,” President Trump said ahead of the medal presentation.
One medal recipient, Army Sgt. Jhonier Marin, a reservist assigned to the 808th Engineer Company, called the medal an “absolute honor,” as he has “a lot [of friends] out there [on the border] that do a lot of good on this mission, and to see that what we do is actually making an impact and seeing the result is absolutely astonishing; it’s awesome.”
