Bronze stars, without the V device, have become officer’s participation medals. They are for meritorious service.
I don’t mean to denigrate those issued for valor or other true meritorious performance. I just know too many who have two or three—one for each deployment, mostly for jobs that never encountered an enemy beyond food poisoning.
See the link in Post #54. According to that link, DeSantis’ Bronze Star DOES have a “V” device for valor. I suspect that information is incorrect.