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So Close to Home: A True Story of an American Family's Fight for Survival During World War II
By Michael J. Tougias and Alison O'Leary
Hardcover. 352 pp. Pegasus. $27.95
On May 19, 1942 a U-boat in the Gulf of Mexico stalked its prey 50 mi. away from New Orleans. Captained by 29-yearold Iron Cross and King's Cross recipient Erich Wurdemann, the submarine set its sights on the freighter Heredia with 59 people on board. Most of the crew were merchant seamen, but there were also a handful of civilians, including the Downs family. Fast asleep, the family had no notice that two torpedoes were heading their way. When the ship exploded,...