My grandfather had one as well. When I asked about it, he said dismissively, "Meh, they gave one to everybody.". We didn't find out the story behind it until after he died.
In the same vein, a good family friend - English - saw heavy action in Korea and the Suez, among other garden spots. Had a raft of great stories, but they were always: "My mates did this" or "My friends did that...". When I asked him what he was doing while all this was happening, he'd say that he was "Hiding. Up a tree/Under a desk/In a closet" and so on.
Trust that your dad earned his Bronze Star. :-)
He was the envy of his friends. He never fired his weapon in combat. He said the Marines were much better at it. He got hurt jumping into a trench on Iwo Jima during a Bedcheck Charlie raid.
In North Africa, they had a servant for their “barracks”. I have a note he sent to my dad apologizing because the base was locked down and he couldn’t come to work. After North Africa, he went to attack bomber school but flunked out.
He spent the war building airfields.