The specific texture of that respect is described in the accounts of May 5, 1945, when the unit’s assault was delayed for Doss’s Sabbath reading. A delay of that kind is not costless in a military context; the men waiting to make an assault are under tension, and every minute of delay is a minute of that tension continuing. That Doss’s commanding officers chose to accommodate his observance rather than order him to conclude it reflects a calculation about what his presence was worth. They had watched him work for three years.
## The Bronze Stars Before Okinawa
The Medal of Honor is Desmond Doss’s most prominent recognition, but he had received two Bronze Stars with ‘V’ devices before Okinawa — a fact that often gets submerged beneath the later, larger story.
The Bronze Star Medal is awarded for heroic or meritorious achievement in military operations against an enemy. The ‘V’ device — a small ‘V’ attached to the medal’s ribbon — specifies that the award is for valor in direct combat, as distinguished from service or achievement in a non-combat context. A Bronze Star with ‘V’ device is not a routine recognition; it requires a documented act of courage under fire.
Doss received his first Bronze Star with ‘V’ for his actions on Guam in 1944. The specific circumstances are not as thoroughly documented in the public record as his Okinawa actions, but the pattern is consistent with what he did throughout his Pacific service: he treated wounded soldiers in exposed positions under enemy fire. The award recognizes that he did this on Guam in circumstances that met the Army’s criteria for valor.