Congress awards the Medal of Honor, the highest United States military medal for valor. The medal has been received by two Norwalk residents — John David Magrath (WWII) and Daniel John Shea (Vietnam), who were both awarded the medal posthumously.
There was a third recipient with a connection to Norwalk. He wasn’t born in Norwalk but lived here, raised his family here, and ultimately lost his life in Norwalk. He was:
PRIVATE HERBERT IRVING PRESTON; U.S. MARINE CORPS
DOB/DOD: August 6, 1878 (Berkeley, NJ) – December 8, 1928 (Norwalk, CT); 50 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married to Edith L. Pennoyer Preston (1885-1958) on April 29, 1906, in Westport, CT
CHILDREN: Two sons, Harry F. (1909-1994) and Irving W. (1912-1965).
LOCAL ADDRESS: 40 First Street, East Norwalk, when he registered for the draft in 1918 (WWI); also 47 Second Street, East Norwalk
ENLISTMENT: June 29, 1899
UNIT: Assigned to League Island, Pennsylvania, and the USS Oregon
FAMILY: Born to Joseph H. (1838-1918) and Ester “Ettie” A. Hitchcock Preston (1844-1890) of Vermont. The youngest of seven siblings. Five brothers, Henry M. (1862-1914), Adam (1864-1930), Hiram (1865-1893), Wilbur F.H. (1867-1943), and Franklin C. (1873-1937). One sister, Ester C. Preston Davis (1869-1930).
OTHER: Worked as a ship carpenter for Lake Torpedo Company on Seaview Avenue, Bridgeport, CT.
CIRCUMSTANCES: During the Boxer Rebellion in China (November 2, 1899 – September 7, 1901), 59 American servicemen received the Medal of Honor for their actions. Four were awarded to Army personnel, 22 to Navy sailors, and the remaining 33 went to Marines. Herbert I. Preston was one of those Marines.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Private Preston was assigned to the USS Oregon at the time of the actions that earned him the Medal of Honor. The lack of notoriety about his receiving the Medal of Honor is because he deserted from the U.S. Navy on November 7, 1901. That fact has been officially recorded by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. The medal is never mentioned in the articles about his death or in his obituary. This is the note from the files at the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, retrieved by the webmaster:
From The Norwalk Hour, December 10, 1928
ALTON W. “BINK” REYNOLDS DIES A HERO IN HARBOR
AS HERBERT I. PRESTON ALSO LOSES LIFE IN STORM
The body of Alton W. “Bink” Reynolds, 35, of Gregory Boulevard, one of Norwalk’s most popular residents, had been recovered today from the waters of the Norwalk harbor, where he bravely met death Saturday evening battling his way ashore in an effort to get help for his companions, Herbert I. Preston, 50, of 47 Second Street, who also lost his life, and Reynolds’ own son, Alton W. Reynolds Jr., 14 years of age, who was saved hours later from the waters off Peach Island. The body of Preston, whose numbing form was washed by a wave of an overturned ten-foot rowboat to which he and the boy were clinging, was sought by grapplers this afternoon. The boy, saved in a miraculous manner, rallied in a surprising way at the Norwalk Hospital and was to be taken home today to the grieving mother, the former Miss Hazel Blascer, who herself has been confined to the home for several weeks by illness. She collapsed upon being informed of the tragedy, but rallied, and it is felt that the knowledge of the son’s escape saved her from death upon receiving word of her husband’s loss.
From The Norwalk Hour December 11, 1928
The body of Herbert Preston was recovered shortly after 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon on the low tide. It was within a few hundred feet of the overturned skiff that figured in the double tragedy and that had been left anchored where it was at a market. The body was found by a search party consisting of Alfred J. Boerum, Wallace Radfan, Captain Frederick F. Lovejoy, and Crawford Jessup. Shortly after, the quartet arrived at the scene of the double fatality. Boerum, who is the proprietor of the Boerum garage, saw the body with one hand at the surface. The body was lifted into the boat and taken to the public dock at the Washington Street drawbridge, where it was removed to the funeral parlors of LeGrand Raymond.
This gravesite is for Herbert’s wife, Edith Preston. The plot is in Riverside Cemetery, 81 Riverside Ave, Norwalk, Connecticut; Section 12, Grave 700. On her gravesite, there is also a memorial marker for Herbert I. Preston. The footstone in the picture below is a memorial footstone (“In Memory Of”) and not his final resting place. Herbert Preston is buried in an unknown plot in Norwalk Union Cemetery. More research is needed to obtain a plot number at Norwalk Union Cemetery.
Honor Norwalk CT veterans 