So Close to Home: A True Story of an American Family's Fight for Survival During World War II

by Michael J Tougias, Alison O'Leary

Overview

A true story of men and women pitted against the sea during World War II—and an unforgettable portrait of the determination of the human spirit.

On May 19, 1942 a U-boat in the Gulf of Mexico stalked its prey fifty miles away from New Orleans. Captained by 29-year-old Iron Cross and King's Cross recipient Erich Wurdemann, the submarine set its sights on the freighter Heredia with fifty-nine souls on board.

Most of the crew were merchant seamen, but there were also a handful of civilians, including the Downs family, consisting of the parents, Ray Sr. and Ina, along with their two children, eight-year-old Ray Jr., nick-named “Sonny,” and eleven-year-old Lucille.

Fast asleep in their berths, the Downs family had no notice that two torpedoes were heading their way. When the ship exploded, Ina and Lucille became separated from Ray Sr. and Sonny.

An inspiring historical narrative, So Close to Home tells the story of the Downs family as they struggle against sharks, hypothermia, drowning, and dehydration in their effort to survive the aftermath of this deadly attack off the American coast.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681771304
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	05/03/2016
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Michael Tougias is the author and co-author of twenty-three non-fiction books, including several true survival-at-sea adventures, such as Rescue of the Bounty, Fatal Forecast, Overboard!, A Storm Too Soon, and The Finest Hours (soon to be a major motion picture by Disney). Ten Hours Until Dawn was selected as one of the American Library Association's "Best Books of the Year."

Alison O’Leary is a former reporter for the The Boston Globe, a magazine editor, and a freelance writer. Her work has appeared in newspapers and magazines across the country.

Table of Contents

Prologue ix

Part I

1 A Tired Old Workhorse 3

2 Ina and the South American Venture 7

3 Admiral Dönitz and his Grey Wolves 18

4 Harro Schacht and U-507 28

5 The Grey Wolves and the Mississippi 40

6 Moving Ever Closer 47

7 Denied a Safe Port 58

8 An Uneasy Feeling 67

Part II 75

9 Torpedoes in the Night 77

10 The Raft 83

11 A Most Hopeless Night 89

12 Dawn 96

13 Desperation 101

14 Running Out of Time 107

15 The Shrimp Boat and a Surprise 116

16 Ina 119

17 Lucille 128

Part III 139

18 Triumphant Return to Lorient 141

19 Morgan City and the Hospital 152

20 The Laconia: A Sinking and a Rescue 165

21 Spies, Duty, and the Turning of the Battle Tide 177

22 Passages So Far from Home 189

23 Sonny 200

Epilogue 203

Acknowledgments 213

Sources 217

Authors' Notes 219

Bibliography 223

About Author Michael J. Tougias 229

Summary of Michael J. Tougias's Latest Books 231

Editorial Reviews

02/29/2016
Tougias (The Finest Hours), a writer who specializes in survival stories, and journalist O’Leary impressively render the grim early period of U.S. involvement in WWII, when U-boats wreaked havoc in American waters. During the first four months of 1942, German U-boats sank 173 vessels and lost only one. In May 1942, a U-boat torpedoed a freighter carrying Ray Downs, his wife, and two young children off the coast of New Orleans. The freighter sank too quickly for lifeboats to launch, resulting in many deaths. In the confusion, the Downs family was separated, spending a miserable 24 hours in the water before all were rescued. While not miraculous, their survival defied the odds, and they lived long and intermittently happy lives. Tougias and O’Leary alternate narrative threads between the Downses’ story and that of two U-boats roaming the Gulf of Mexico, including the one that sank the freighter. Readers irritated by the breathless recreation of the Downses’ intimate thoughts and conversation may prefer the diversions into straightforward history. Despite the book’s melodramatic nature, readers will enjoy learning about a half-forgotten incident from the early months of WWII. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"A harrowing adventure story at sea, a surprising recovery of frightening historical material that had been shrouded in obscurity, and an unexpected, humanizing look at the enemies—the U-boat commanders—who turn out to be quite different from the conventional Nazi monsters of most WWII representation."

Washington Independent Review of Books

"A little-known story — told from multiple points of view — about how World War II got a lot closer than most people think."

New York Post

"They don't come any better than Michael J. Tougias. His latest, So Close to Home, is a truly gripping, deeply affecting saga of undersea warfare and an extraordinary American family caught in the crosshairs of history."

Alex Kershaw

"Through their meticulous research, Tougias and O'Leary take you where few historians dare, into the dark sea where an American family is floundering to stay alive, and onto the steel-planked deck of the German U-boat that put them there. This is priceless history—two hundred pages of 'you-are-there.'"

Adam Makos

"A little-known story — told from multiple points of view — about how World War II got a lot closer than most people think."

New York Post

03/01/2016
Tougias (The Finest Hours) and journalist O'Leary begin their story in May 1942, when World War II was six months under way. Ray Downs was returning to the United States from his position as a manager for United Fruit in Colombia with his wife, Ina, and two children, eight-year-old Sonny and 11-year-old Lucille. While the U-boat war had started, few were concerned as the Gulf of Mexico seemed physically far away from the conflict. The ship carrying the Downs family, The Heredia, had the misfortune to be seen by German Commander Harro Schacht in U-507. Schacht quickly sank the vessel, leaving the survivors to swim for safety in the Gulf. The four Downs survived, but only Ray and Sonny managed to stay together; Ina and Lucille drifted in different directions. After several days, many were rescued by shrimpers, and the Downs were reunited in Morgan City, LA. (Schacht was later killed in 1943 when U-507 was sunk off the coast of Brazil.) VERDICT This sad tale of war at sea ends more happily than most, and while a rather pedestrian account, gives a solid perspective of the hardships endured by ordinary people. For larger World War II collections.—Edwin Burgess, U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, KS

Library Journal