Dayton mint taking pride in producing tens of thousands of Bronze Stars

For Northwest Territorial Mint, producing Bronze Stars for the military is more than just additional business: It's the ability to honor those who serve.

The Dayton mint recently won a bid to produce 34,000 Bronze Star medals and will produce an additional 45,000 medals in early 2012. The medal is awarded by the military to U.S. servicemen and women who distinguish themselves by heroic or meritorious achievement or service while engaged in combat.

Rob Vugteveen, project manager at the plant, said his company plans to establish a high standard for the medal, which goes through 15 steps before completion.

"It sounds kind of lofty, (but) this is a very small token of (our appreciation of the servicemen and women), especially in light of what some of them give up for us. I mean, some of these awards, only their families get them."

He said there are about 100 people working on the production floor of the plant, some of whom are veterans themselves.

"Not all of them would be directly involved in (the Bronze Star production), but from pressing it to stamping it to burnishing it, you could say at least two hands for each step."

The process goes something like this: A lump of brass is pulled out and stamped. It's tumble-polished and pressed and trimmed to remove the excess. The hole for the ribbon is punched. It's sandblasted and antiqued - a chemical process that leaves the medal black. It's hand-finished by workers rubbing finely ground pumice stone over it, leaving a star with depth from the blackening, giving an overall regal, bronze look to it.

It's a process that's changed over the years as technology moved from weighted and hand-driven machines to a more digital process, but with a result that the mint's sister company, Medallic Art Co., is well-versed in. Medallic Art Co. has made millions of Bronze Stars over the years, dating back to its establishment in 1944.

"This is the beginning of our effort to re-enter this market and to improve the quality of awards given to U.S. service members and to ensure they receive an American made product," Vugteveen said.

He said the company is even pushing the "appropriate people in the right places" to make it mandatory for all service medals to have the country of origin stamped into them.

But in the end, he said, the company is happy to be producing them.

"We are a part of the process of our country expressing its appreciation," he said.

Dayton facility taking pride in producing tens of thousands of Bronze Stars