Since the Border Patrol’s creation in 1924, the men and women of the Border Patrol have faced the challenge of securing our Nation’s borders; preventing aliens from entering our country illegally; interdicting smugglers of narcotics and other contraband; and protecting border communities and America from criminals and criminal organizations that will often stop at nothing in committing their illegal activities. Today, as in the past, Border Patrol Agents often work in remote, desolate areas and frequently find themselves hours or miles from their closest back-up. Since the Border Patrol was formed, 98 inspectors and agents have died in the line of duty. All of these courageous men and women are remembered and revered, but the story of two of them has taken on a special meaning.

On June 17, 1967, Patrol Inspectors Theodore L. Newton Jr. and George F. Azrak, both of Fallbrook, CA, were ambushed, overtaken, and kidnapped during the early morning hours. Newton had little over a year with the Border Patrol, while Azrak was a trainee still awaiting an Academy date. The traffic checkpoint they were working was located along Highway 79 near Oak Grove, CA, a route often used by illegal aliens and smugglers of aliens, narcotics, and contraband. After the inspectors failed to report in at the end of their shift, and one of their vehicles was found abandoned a short distance from the checkpoint, an intense manhunt was organized. Inspectors Newton and Azrak were found dead two days later. They had been executed in a deserted, remote mountain cabin located on the Bailey Ranch off Highway 371 near Anza, CA, about eight miles northeast of where the officers had been working.

An investigation revealed that Patrol Inspectors Newton and Azrak intercepted an old military ambulance being used by two men to smuggle over 800 pounds of marijuana. While checking the vehicle, the inspectors were overpowered by the two occupants of the ambulance and two of their associates who were following in a second vehicle. The inspectors were taken to the cabin where they were handcuffed to each other and to the legs of an old stove. While incapacitated, they were coldly executed. Patrol Inspector Newton was shot once in the head. Patrol Inspector Azrak was shot three times - twice in the head and once in the chest.

At the time, the manhunt for the suspected killers was one of the largest ever launched by law enforcement agencies in California. Harold and Alfred Montoya (the occupants of the tail vehicle) were captured three weeks after the murder by Mexican law enforcement officers outside of Hermosillo, Mexico and extradited to the United States where they pleaded guilty to second degree murder and sentenced to 30 years each. Florencio L. Mationg and Victor G. Bono (the occupants of the old ambulance) were captured on July 17, 1967, one month after the murder, in an apartment in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles. They both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to two consecutive counts of life imprisonment for first degree murder and two consecutive 15-year terms for armed robbery.

Harold Montoya was released from prison in 1982. Alfred Montoya was paroled in 1996. Due to what the District Court termed “vindictive” actions by the Parole Commission; Victor Bono was ordered released in 1998. Since then, each and every time that Florencio Mationg has become eligible for parole, the extended Border Patrol family, active and retired, has mounted an aggressive letter writing campaign to the United States Parole Commission demanding his continued incarceration. Mationg is currently serving out his sentence at the Federal Correctional Complex in Florence, Colorado. He was denied parole at his latest hearing in June of 2006 but becomes eligible for parole again in June of 2008. The death of these two heroes prompted the inception of the Newton-Azrak Award. This annual award is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a Border Patrol Agent for acts of bravery or heroism. It serves as a reminder of the dangers and sacrifices demanded of the men and women who protect our Nation’s borders. Consideration for eligibility to receive this award is based on the following criteria: exercise of unusual courage or bravery in the line of duty and/or a heroic or humane act during times of extreme stress or in an emergency.

Patrol Inspectors Theodore Newton and George Azrak were the 46th and 47th inspectors to die in the line of duty. Their deaths are considered a defining point in the history of the Border Patrol. Their deaths brought attention not only to the Border Patrol, but also to the Nation, of the constant need for the agency to continue to grow in size with well trained agents, and to continue to provide the agents with the most up-to-date technology and infrastructure. Since the deaths of the two inspectors, the Border Patrol has modified training standards and implemented minimum staffing requirements for checkpoints.

In 2000, a monument was erected at the former site of the checkpoint, now part of a US Forrest Service campground on Highway 79 in Oak Grove, CA. The Border Patrol Museum in El Paso, TX, also has a permanent memorial honoring Newton and Azrak.

According to the Winter 2007 issue of The Border Line magazine, the Newton and Azrak families still remain a part of the Border Patrol family and gratefully acknowledge the help and support of the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol, Chief David V. Aguilar, the San Diego Sector Headquarters, the Temecula Station, the Fraternal Order of and for Retirees of the U.S. Border Patrol and Other Retired Personnel of the Former Immigration and Naturalization Service (FORBPO), The Border Line magazine, the Border Patrol Museum, the Border Patrol Academy, the National Border Patrol Council, family, friends, and others who have sent letters, signed petitions, e-mailed, and made phone calls to the Parole Commission.

About the Newton-Azrak Award - Paying Tribute to the Ultimate Sacrifice

Recipients from the awards inception through 2006 include:

Ricardo J. Hernandez
Felix Morales III
Christopher D. Brinkhoff
Juan H. Villa
James P. Epling
Robert Arnold, Jr.
Robert M. Lawler
Jared Bacon
Herbert L. Williams
Raymond Witt
Benjamin Sanford
Jesus E. De La Vega
Walter M. Davenport
Betty A. Mills
Steven J. Pastor
James D. Goldman
Ruben Miranda
Jonathan P. Miller
Charles Sachs
Mickey A. Valdez
James E. Lassiter, Jr.
Armando Morales
William T. Veal
Sevin K. Neufner
Christopher A. Ramnes
Joseph P. Martin
Michael F. McCarson
Mark M. Jones
Floyd Southerland III
Jay Visconti
Susan L. Rodriguez
Stephen A. Brooks
John C. Pfeifer
Martin G. Hewson
Benjamin M Batchelder
Richard L. Ashlaw
Alexander Kirpnick
Ricardo G. Salinas
LeAlan L. Pinkerton
Stephan S. Martin, Jr.
C. James Engelhardt
Guadalupe Chacon
Stephan C. Starch
Elizabeth M. Ebisuzaki
Orlando Sanchez
Joseph E.Kempa
John D. Marlborough
Jefferson L. Barr
Austin L. Skero II
Michael W. Richardson
Richard Holmes
William E. Simmons III
Juanitia Santana
Diego Gonzales
Aurthur G. Lopez
Andrew W. Shutt
Robert S.Herrera
Chrisitina M.Carnes
David Hinojosa
Cheryl R. Smith
Bruce L. Cooke
Forest J. Mauldin
Jorge Arballo
Robert E. Linderman
Jose L. Perez
Lazaro Alverez
John K. Crowther
Carlos Martinez
Michael Deshaies
Theodore E. Huebner
Christopher M. Jacobs
Alan W. Marshall
Jesse Collins
Michael W. Synder
Darrel Welsh
Johnny Magdaleno
Armando Ornelas
Jose Cisneros
William C. Spencer, Jr.
Robert Pittenridge
Robert E. Jolicoeur
Theo D. Hudson
Howard H. Gay
Robert S. Coleman
William A. Preston
James F. Murphy
Charles J. Kothman
Craig L. Weinbrenner
Stephan A Peregoy
Michael A. Lewis
David Gutierrez
John A. Kalabus
Mark Cangemi
Oscar H. Garza, Jr.
Donald A. Peck
Paul Conover
Stanley U. Spencer
Robert B. Labelle
Bruce D. Sanny
Peter R. Moran
Douglas G Roy
Richard Shuler
Gary Renick
Hipolito Acosta
George Fernandez, Jr.
John B. Knowles
Joseph Occhipinti
Reginald D. Ricks
John Gallo
Edwin Rodriguez
William A. McIver
Larry Herbert
Kenneth D. Crockett
James Moody
Lawerence V. Granelli
James E. Kibble
Ted L. Giorgetti
Willard T. Lamade
Michael G. McManus

The survivors of Theodore L. Newton, Jr. and George F. Azrak remain part of the Border Patrol family still today. We work together to preserve the memory of these two and all our fallen heroes.