On May 19, 1942, a German U-boat set its sights on a freighter called Heredia with 59 people on board. Most of the crew were merchant seamen, but there were also a handful of civilians including the Down’s family, comprised of the parents and their two children.
When the torpedos struck and the ship exploded all four members of the family were separated from each other, and more than half of the crew and passengers aboard the ship perished, but after 15 hours in the ocean all of the members of the Down’s family survived and were reunited -- and all of this happened in the Gulf of Mexico about 50 miles from New Orleans. We're exploring this fascinating bit of overlooked World War II history with Michael Tougias, he’s co-author of the book "So Close to Home: The True Story of an American Family's Fight for Survival During WWII."
Tougias will be giving a talk about this story on Tuesday, December 11 at 10:00 a.m. at the South Florida Water Management District office at 2301 McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers, which is presented by the Edison and Ford Winter Estates.
