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The making of the military's highest award, the Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor is made by full time engravers in the Veteran Medals Unit
The making of the military's highest award, the Medal of Honor 05:48

PHILADELPHIA -- The Medal of Honor -- the military's highest decoration -- traveled thousands of miles to be properly prepared for the ceremony at the White House this past Wednesday, where President Obama awarded it to retired Army Captain Florent Groberg.

Army captain awarded Medal of Honor 02:28

There are only two companies that mold the five-pointed, 2.25 ounces star, which has been presented to only 13 people who served in the Afghanistan war, including Groberg, CBS News' Mark Albert reports.

One company is in Rhode Island, and another is in Texas. From there they are shipped to the Veteran Medals Unit at a Navy base in Philadelphia, where the medals are kept in a safe to which only two people know the combination.

One of the people who knows the security combination is the supervisor of the eight-person Veteran Medals Unit, Rob Henry Jr.

Henry said the medals are everlasting and that, long after the service members who earned them pass away, "They'll still have those medals."

When the Medal of Honor is going to be awarded, one of the unit's two engravers, such as Chris McDaniels, uses diamond-tipped precision to chisel the name synonymous with honor, grit and daring onto the symbol of sacrifice.

Marine awarded Medal of Honor after absorbing grenade blast 03:04

The Veteran Medals Unit consists of eight people and assembles and ships 130 medals for the Army, 20 of which they engrave. McDaniels says that each medal he works on provides "a glimpse into the life of a soldier."

A medal McDaniels regularly etches with the names of soldiers is the Purple Heart, an award created by George Washington that now bears the first president's likeness and honors those wounded in battle.

"Unfortunately, there's never been a shortage of names," McDaniels said about the Purple Heart which has been awarded to America's service members for more than two centuries.

Sgt. Ryan Pitts describes “intense” battle that earned him Medal of Honor 01:43

McDaniels has been engraving medals for 28 years, and among those he recalls are, "medals of Jeffrey Zaun when he was shot down. President Clinton presented medals to soldiers that were entitled in World War II and not presented, and I did all of those medals and he presented them on TV."

Earlier this month, Fulton County, Ohio, presented 152 engraved Bronze Stars to World War II veterans and their families. Only seven of the veterans who were presented with the Bronze Stars were still alive.

They won the war -- but vets who were never told they earned the medals, or who later lost them, are still in a battle with time and a backlog.

Veterans are now waiting more than four months for their medals. Delays are up sharply from last year after two assemblers left the team. They have not yet been replaced.

At the same time, the number of medals processed has fallen steadily, corresponding with the staffing shortage and the drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Four-Star General Dennis Via who is in charge of the veteran medals program, as well as all Army logistics worldwide, said every medal is a priority. "I've had the privileged of attending a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House and being able to see the descendants and their family members, the expression and the care that they hold that medal," he said. "And so we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to get it to them as quickly as we can."

The medals are not just pieces of metal, Via said. "They represent people's lives, they represent individuals, and they represent families."

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