So Close to Home
A True Story of an American Family’s Fight for Survival During World War II
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Narrated by:
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Elijah Alexander
About this listen
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 50 miles away from New Orleans. Captained by 29-year-old Iron Cross recipient Erich Würdemann, the submarine set its sights on the freighter Heredia with 59 souls onboard. 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., nicknamed "Sonny", and 11-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 struggled against sharks, hypothermia, drowning, and dehydration in their effort to survive the aftermath of this deadly attack off the American coast.
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Story
In May 1942, Admiral Jack Fletcher's Task Force 17 closed in for the war's first major clash with the Japanese Navy. The Neosho, a vitally important tanker, was escorted by a destroyer, the Sims. The ships were attacked by Japanese dive bombers, and when the smoke cleared, the Sims had slipped beneath the waves. Scores of sailors were killed or wounded while hundreds bobbed in shark-infested waters.
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great story
- By alaina davis on 10-27-24
By: Don Keith
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The Mathews Men
- Seven Brothers and the War Against Hitler's U-boats
- By: William Geroux
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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From the author of The Ghost Ships of Archangel, one of the last unheralded heroic stories of World War II: The U-boat assault off the American coast against the men of the US Merchant Marine who were supplying the European war, and one community’s monumental contribution to that effort. Mathews County, Virginia, is a remote outpost on the Chesapeake Bay with little to offer except unspoiled scenery - but it sent an unusually large concentration of sea captains to fight in World War II.
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Engaging Read Not About Brothers, but Men
- By Gillian on 04-22-16
By: William Geroux
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For Crew and Country
- The Inspirational True Story of Bravery and Sacrifice Aboard the USS Samuel B. Roberts
- By: John Wukovits
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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On October 25, 1944, the Samuel B. Roberts and 12 other vessels stood between Japan’s largest battleship force ever and MacArthur’s transports inside Leyte Gulf. Facing more than 20 Japanese vessels - including the 70,000-ton Yamato - the 1,200-ton Samuel B. Roberts turned immediately to action, churning straight at the enemy in a near-suicidal attempt to deflect the more potent foe and buy time for MacArthur’s forces.
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Well Done Naval Story of the Samuel B. Roberts
- By David on 05-15-13
By: John Wukovits
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Miracles on the Water
- The Heroic Survivors of a World War II U-Boat Attack
- By: Tom Nagorski
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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An unforgettable story of children in wartime, of heroism at sea, and - above all - of courage and the power of the human spirit. On September 17, 1940, at a little after 10 at night, a German submarine torpedoed the passenger liner S.S. City of Benares in the North Atlantic. There were 406 people on board, but the ship's prized passengers were 90 children whose parents had elected to send their boys and girls away from Great Britain to escape the ravages of World War II. They were considered lucky, headed for quiet, peaceful, and relatively bountiful Canada.
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Riveting history
- By appreciative reader on 05-21-17
By: Tom Nagorski
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Where Divers Dare
- The Hunt for the Last U-Boat
- By: Randall Peffer
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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In the tradition of Shadow Divers, the story of the courageous men who dived on the last sunken U-Boat off the Eastern Seaboard. On April 16, 1944, the tanker SS Pan Pennsylvania was torpedoed and sunk by the U-550. In return the sub was sent to the bottom by three destroyer escorts that were guarding the convoy. For more than 60 years the location of the U-boat's wreck eluded divers. In 2012 a team found it.
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great story but at times a little too much...
- By Anthony Karis on 02-28-18
By: Randall Peffer
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The Silent Service in World War II
- The Story of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force in the Words of the Men Who Lived It
- By: Edward Monroe-Jones, Michael Green
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins, Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the US Navy had a total of 111 submarines. It was mostly a collection of aging boats. Fortunately, with the war in Europe was already two years old and friction with Japan ever increasing, help from what would become known as the Silent Service in the Pacific was on the way: there were 73 of the new fleet submarines under construction. The Silent Service in World War II tells the story of America's intrepid underwater warriors in the words of the men who lived the war in the Pacific against Japan.
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Disappointing
- By Chris on 09-17-18
By: Edward Monroe-Jones, and others
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Left for Dead
- A Young Man's Search for Justice for the USS Indianapolis
- By: Pete Nelson, Hunter Scott - preface
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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For fans of sea battles, adventures, and war stories like Unbroken, this is the incredible true story of a boy who helps to bring closure to the survivors of the tragic sinking of the USS Indianapolis, and helps exonerate the ship's captain 50 years later. Hunter Scott first learned about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis by watching the movie Jaws when he was just 11 years old. This was 50 years after the ship had sunk, throwing more than 1,000 men into shark-infested waters - a long 50 years in which justice still had not been served.
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Incredible story, incredible book!
- By Marty on 01-24-21
By: Pete Nelson, and others
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At All Costs
- By: Sam Moses
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1942, the island of Malta was the most heavily bombed place on earth. Its submarine and air attacks on Axis supply convoys were all that kept Rommel from marching across North Africa. But Malta was out of fuel. Operation Pedestal was Malta's last hope, a giant convoy with more that 50 warships escorting 13 freighters and one life-or-death oil tanker, the SS Ohio. It was bombed, torpedoed, and abandoned, but two American Merchant Mariners boarded the ship and repaired the guns.
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A spellbinding story
- By James F. Geary on 04-08-07
By: Sam Moses
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Fatal Voyage
- The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis
- By: Dan Kurzman
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Shortly after midnight on July 30, 1945, the navy cruiser USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea. The ship had just left the island of Tinian, delivering components of the atomic bomb destined for Hiroshima. As the torpedoes hit, the Indianapolis erupted into a fiery coffin, sinking in less than 15 minutes and leaving 900 crewmen fighting for life in shark-infested waters.
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garbage
- By james ruzich on 06-14-19
By: Dan Kurzman
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Halsey's Typhoon
- By: Bob Drury, Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: Eric Conger
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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December 1944, the Pacific Theater. General Douglas MacArthur has vowed to return to the Philippines. He will need the help of Admiral William "Bull" Halsey's Pacific Fleet. But at the height of the invasion, Halsey's ships are blindsided by a typhoon of unprecedented strength and scope. Battleships are tossed like toys, fighter planes are blown off carriers, destroyers are capsized, and hundreds of sailors are swept into the roiling, shark-infested sea.
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Weather and Naval History Masterpiece
- By M. Taussig on 02-17-07
By: Bob Drury, and others
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Dead Wake
- The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
- By: Erik Larson
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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On May 1, 1915, with WWI entering its tenth month, a luxury ocean liner as richly appointed as an English country house sailed out of New York, bound for Liverpool, carrying a record number of children and infants. The passengers were surprisingly at ease, even though Germany had declared the seas around Britain to be a war zone. For months, German U-boats had brought terror to the North Atlantic.
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Naivety VS Barbarians Of War
- By Sara on 03-05-16
By: Erik Larson
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The War Below
- The Story of Three Submarines That Battled Japan
- By: James Scott
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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The War Below is a dramatic account of extraordinary heroism, ingenuity, and perseverance—and the vital role American submarines played in winning the Pacific War. Focusing on the unique stories of the submarines Silversides, Drum, and Tang—and the men who skippered and crewed them—James Scott takes readers beneath the waves to experience the thrill of a direct hit on a merchant ship and the terror of depth charge attacks.
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Unique. Engaging. Worth your credit.
- By Ryan on 06-21-13
By: James Scott
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Ten Hours Until Dawn
- The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy Aboard the Can Do
- By: Michael J. Tougias
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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During the height of the blizzard of 1978, the tanker Global Hope floundered on the shoals off the Massachusetts coast. The Coast Guard dispatched a patrol boat, but was soon in as much trouble as the tanker. Then pilot boat captain Frank Quirk, hearing of the Coast Guard's troubles on his radio, decided to act.
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A riveting story
- By Christopher on 11-30-07
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Out of the Depths
- An Unforgettable WWII Story of Survival, Courage, and the Sinking of the USS Indianapolis
- By: Edgar Harrell, David Harrell USMC
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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July 30, 1945 - The USS Indianapolis and its 1,196-man crew is making its way toward a small island in the South Pacific. The ship is sailing unescorted, assured by headquarters the waters are safe. It is midnight, and Marine Edgar Harrell and several others have sacked out on deck rather than spend the night in their hot and muggy quarters below. Fresh off a top-secret mission to deliver uranium for the atomic bombs that would ultimately end World War II, they are unaware their ship is being watched.
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Potentially good story thwarted by proselytization
- By Mark Fay on 12-10-17
By: Edgar Harrell, and others
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What listeners say about So Close to Home
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Clifford
- 05-05-24
Well worth reading
This true narrative personalizes a little-publicized phase of World War 2 - the dramatic loss of civillian ships to U-Boats plying US coastal waters. It recounts the individual stories of the members of one family who were separated when their ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Gulf of Mexico. It also tracks the actions and thoughts of the two submarine captains through their logbooks.
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- Robert from Brookline
- 12-22-23
Interesting
I found this book to be very interesting as I did not fully understand the activities of Nazi submarines in our waters in WWII.
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- Victoria JD.
- 03-02-22
Incredible Account of Survival during WWII
I really enjoyed this. It kept my attention the whole time - I didn't want to stop listening. It gives insight into the boats that the Germans used, and how as one captain seemed bent on killing, regardless, another actually had a heart. He was just in the wrong "job".
The family had a wonderful relationship with each other. Their bond had helped them during this horrible drama. A very well written and narrated true story.
Thank you.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Teresa L.
- 02-28-22
Excellent listen
I found it difficult to stop listening to go to sleep. Very interesting true story and informative of events during the war
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- R. Frost
- 03-12-22
It's worth listening to
This was actually two stories in one. One story is of the family, and the other was about the U-boat war along the US coasts. Since this was a free book, I decided to give it a listen. It was good, but not riveting, so I only gave it four stars. Still, the reader was good, and the story interesting.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Spindle
- 09-13-24
Decent
It's a decently told story but when it dawned on me how much liberty the author takes in imagining what the characters were thinking it made the whole story feel fake. I would prefer a briefer, dryer story if it meant it was more based in reality.
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- Stephanie Greene
- 12-04-21
True story
Excellent audiobook! This one drew me in & affected me like no other, so far. One of the first narrators that I truly enjoyed, also. Just amazing.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous
- 08-31-21
Extraordinary, fascinating and very informative!
Well told story full of fascinating and detailed information about the staggering role the German U-boats played in WWII and how they were finally subdued by the Allies using new technology! It is alarming to know these U-boats were able to enter and operate deep into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico where they intercepted and devastated ships and lives including that of a young unexpecting Texas family! Well done!!
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- Reader7347
- 03-08-18
Couldn't Stop Listening
What did you love best about So Close to Home?
This book ranks among some of the best thrillers/intrigue novels, but being a work of non-fiction added even more punch to the story. Not only a story about a family's survival, but lots of associated history.
What was one of the most memorable moments of So Close to Home?
The recounting of the survivors of the Laconia sinking who were then rescued by the U-boats. How they were treated not as war time captors, but as fellow humans.
What about Elijah Alexander’s performance did you like?
The narrator did an excellent job. A perfect blend of facts, emotion, and sincerity.
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6 people found this helpful
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- ethel
- 09-19-20
Needs consistency in pronunciation
The narrator had a hard time being consistent with the pronunciation of names and places. And it wasn’t just with foreign words. The least he could have done was pronounce the names of cities in the U.S. correctly. The way he pronounced St. Augustine and Ponte Vedra was especially irritating for a Floridian.
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3 people found this helpful