John:
This is old business for me, as I have been successful on obtaining the issue of two Bronze Star Medals to World War II era soldiers who were issued the Combat Infantryman Badge (or Combat Medic Badge) and were thus elibible for award of that medal.
As noted by "wlyon" about, the key document is the SF 180 but not for those who are next of kin of the service member in question. I recommend however that you look at the information on this site:
http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/mil...-180.html#ways
which is the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. They have custody of the records of service members who service after certain early 20th Century dates.
Since you are next of kin, you can use the on-line option at this site:
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs/
A four step process leading to a form to print,date, sign and mail within 20 days of entering the on-line data.
That said, I have found that the time needed for a reply is measured in months and longer. Each of the Bronze Star Medal issues took a year to 13 months, long enough to worry about the longevity of the veterans who were to receive them.
Then there is always the caveat of the 1973 fire that destroyed about 17 million of the records of our nation's service members who served between 1912 and 1964 with exact dates depending on service. My effort to have the Bronze Star Medal issued to my wife's father, a WW II recipient of the Combat Infantryman Badge, ended unsuccessfully because his records had been destroyed.
Let me know if I can be of any further help.
Very kindly, David