Their new home, however, turned out to be a motel near the railroad yard in bustling Abilene. The two-bedroom efficiency was a tight squeeze. The children—now ages 16, 14, and 10—tried to put a good face on starting at yet another new school. Terry immediately fell in step with other football players, but Sonny remained scrawny and somewhat shy. At age 14, athletic Lucille was still playing ball with the boys, strong-willed enough to withstand the “girls can’t” attitude of teen boys.
* * *
After just a few months in Abilene, the Downs family was on the move again, this time “home” to San Antonio. Ray went to work for the U.S. Postal Service, and Ina, with her sight restored, returned to sewing and baking. They lived just a few blocks from the home they had left in 1941.
It was here that Sonny received his first and only failing grade in school: His teacher, Mrs. Hall, assigned the students to write a nonfiction story about the war. When Sonny turned in an essay about the torpedoing of the Heredia, his teacher chided him for making it up and etched a big red F on the page. Ina was not happy to hear about it. She marched down to the school to set that teacher straight.
Ever busy working as a soda jerk and trimming neighbors’ lawns, Terry saved his earnings in hopes of going back to St. Augustine to work for a summer on a friend’s shrimp boat, but family finances remained tight. When Terry was ready to use his savings for a train ticket to Florida, Ina had to admit that his money had been spent on other necessities, dashing Terry’s dream.
Sonny delivered newspapers, carrying them on his bike before school. He knew the story of Terry’s savings being depleted, so he decided to keep his cash in a sock rather than giving it to his mother to hold. He had to move the sock frequently to avoid impromptu “loans” to his siblings.
In high school, Terry grew to over six feet tall, broad-shouldered and strong, turning heads on the playing fields. He decided to attend Baylor University on a football scholarship and study dentistry. He married twice, had two sons, ran his dentistry practice in San Antonio for 50 years, and headed the Texas Dental Association.
In time Sonny also grew to six feet tall, and his desire to play baseball was challenged by his basketball coach, Day Brandt, who noted his ability to sink shots from any point on the basketball court. Brandt counseled Sonny to focus solely on basketball, and Sonny agreed.
* * *
When Lucille graduated from high school, she received a heartfelt letter from Roy Sorli and his wife, Heddy, congratulating her and reminding her that she had been a brave young lady. In fact, Ina stayed in touch with the Sorlis for many years following the Heredia torpedoing.
Lucille became an executive secretary, working for the Federal Reserve Bank branch in San Antonio for most of her career. She married twice and had four children with whom she was always active, including playing tennis and swimming. Lucille is remembered for her beauty, larger-than-life personality, and the strong will that anchored her children’s lives, yet she also struggled with crippling depression. Sadly, she died during surgery at the age of 67.
Roy Sorli, the Norwegian second mate of the Heredia, returned to the arms of his sweetheart, Heddy, near Boston. He honored her wish and didn’t return to sea, spending the rest of his life working as a union carpenter and raising two children. He had a small boat but stayed close to shore and taught seamanship as flotilla commander of the local U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. The Merchant Marine Meritorious Service Medal he received for saving Lucille hung in his home, but he rarely spoke of it.
Both Ray and Ina Downs lived long lives after their harrowing experience, but they eventually lived apart. After divorcing, both of them continued to live and work in San Antonio, Ina as a seamstress and Ray for the state employment commission.
* * *
Sonny’s survival at sea was just one chapter in a rewarding life. He attended the University of Texas at Austin on a basketball scholarship, racking up high points as a rare ambidextrous player. He still holds the school’s career scoring average (22.3 points per game) and single-season scoring average (26 points per game) records, more than 60 years after graduating.
Sonny was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks of the new National Basketball Association in 1957 but never played in the league. He joined the army and began selling insurance policies to his fellow soldiers, eventually becoming a top producer. He married Betty Gayle Lowther of San Antonio and has three sons. Today Sonny lives in Massachusetts and is still a top salesman in the financial industry.
* * *
In 1992, an oil slick appeared in the Gulf of Mexico, and many potential sources were investigated. It was eventually determined that it was the remaining fuel oil seeping out of a weathered wreck called the Heredia. The rusting hulk sits mostly intact 80 feet underwater, a silent legacy of a terrible war and a family’s resilience.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHORS
The young boy in Ray “Sonny” Downs is still evident when he tells the story about sitting on the life raft with his father, distracted from his fear and hunger by playing the seagull game. Emotions still well up when he speaks about seeing his mother hauled aboard the shrimp boat, covered in sticky oil. Without his clear, poignant recollections of these events, this book would have no heart.
The era we write about is in the past, but the Downs family’s struggle to stay together and seek the best opportunities for financial advancement still resonate today. To this end, we sought to portray Ray and Ina Downs, the parents, as honestly as possible, using their own words from family documents and their children’s memories. They were simple people who took a chance in pursuing the most basic dream: providing their children with a better future. In the end, they were never wealthy but left indelible impressions of determination, perseverance, and resilience on their children.
We learned that U-boat commanders and sailors did not all believe in the Nazi regime. Reading their war diaries gave us a glimpse into their decision-making, their leadership, their focus on destroying the enemy, and at times even their compassion. We hope this book paints a balanced picture of them.
As we were writing the book, we wondered at what an inspiring family the Downses were. Each member showed a resilience that was off the charts, both during their ordeal at sea and in the months that followed. It was an honor to write their story.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INTERVIEWS AND LETTERS
Several interviews with Ray “Sonny” Downs. Ray also wrote a description of the attack and his survival ordeal.
Interviews with Terry Downs
Several letters written by Ina Downs while in Colombia. Ina later dictated a description of her survival story to her friend Joan Swanson.
Ina’s audio recording of her voyage on the Heredia and her ordeal at sea, which included a discussion of Lucille’s experience as told to her
Letters to Ina from the parents of a sailor killed on the Heredia
Letters from Roy Sorli to Lucille and Ina
Some of our best information came from the Germans on U-506 (see “Documents” section)
BOOKS
Blair, Clay. Hitler’s U-Boat War. New York: Random House, 1996.
Buchheim, Lother-Gunther. U-Boat War. New York: Bonanza Books, 1986.
Busch, Rainer. German U-Boat Commanders of World War II: A Biographical Dictionary. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1999.
Christ, C. J. WWII in the Gulf of Mexico. Houma, LA: CJ Christ Publishing, 2005.
Cremer, Peter. U-Boat Commander. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1984.
Darman, Peter. Warships and Submarines of World War II. London: Grange Books, 2004.
Doenitz, Karl. Memoirs: Ten Years and Twenty Days (English translation). New York: World Publishing, 1959.
Duffy, James P. The Sinking of the Laconias and the U-Boat War. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2009.
Dunnigan, James, and Albert Nofi. Dirty Little Secrets of World War II. New York: William Morrow, 1996.
Feldman, George. World War II Almanac. Detroit: Ga
le Group, 2000.
Frank, Wolfgang. The Sea Wolves. New York: Ballantine, 1955.
Gannon, Michael. Operation Drumbeat. New York: Harper and Row, 1990
Gildea, Robert. Marianne in Chains. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2003.
Groom, Winston. 1942. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2005.
Hastings, Max. Inferno. New York: Knopf, 2011.
Hickman, Homer. Torpedo Junction. Annapolis, MD: U.S. Naval Institute, 1989.
High Command of the German Navy. U-Boat Commander’s Handbook. Translated by the U.S. Navy. Gettysburg PA: Thomas Publications, 1989
Hough, Richard. The Greatest Crusade: Roosevelt, Churchill and the Naval Wars. New York: William Morrow, 1986.
Hoyt, Edwin. U-Boats Offshore. New York: Stein and Day, 1978.
Huettel, Wilfred Chuck. War in the Gulf of Mexico. Santa Rosa Beach, FL: Hogtown Press, 1989.
Jackson, Robert. Kriegsmarine: The Illustrated History of the German Navy in World War II. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press, 2001.
Jacobsen, Hans Adolf, and J. Rohwer. Decisive Battles of WWII. New York: G. Putnam and Sons, 1960.
Kimball, Warren F. Churchill and Roosevelt: The Complete Correspondence (Volume 1, Alliance Emerging, October 1933–November 1942). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984.
McKay, Ernest. Undersea Terror. New York: Julian Messner, 1982.
Mercey, Arch, and Lee Grove. Sea, Surf and Hell: The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1945.
Miller, Nathan. War at Sea. New York: Scribner, 1995.
Moore, Arthur. A Careless Word … A Needless Sinking. Kings Point, NY: American Merchant Marine Museum Press, 1983.
Morison, Samuel Eliot. History of United States Naval Operations in WWII: The Atlantic Battle Won. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1956.
Niestle, Axel. German U-Boat Losses During World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998.
Offley, Ed. The Burning Shore. New York: Basic Books, 2014.
Padfield, Peter. Dönitz: The Last Fuhrer. New York: Harper & Row, 1984.
Peillard, Léonce, and Oliver Coburn. U-Boats to the Rescue: The Laconia Incident. London, Jonathan Cape, 1963.
Prien, Gunther. U-Boat Commander. New York: Award Books, 1976.
Rohwer, J., and G. Hümmelchen. Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945. New York: Arco Publishing, 1974.
Rohwer, Jürgen. Axis Submarine Successes, 1939–1945. Elstree, UK: Greenhill Books, 1998.
Savas, Theodore P. Hunt and Kill: U-505 and the Battle of the Atlantic. New York: Savas Beatie LLC, 2004.
———. Silent Hunters: German U-boat Commanders of WWII. Boston: Da Capo Press, 1997.
Shaw, Anthony, and Peter Darman. World War II Day by Day. London: Brown Reference Books, 1999.
Showell, Jak P. Mallmann. U-Boat Commanders and Crews. Wiltshire, UK: Crowood Press, 1999.
Trevor-Roper, H. R. The Last Days of Hitler. New York: Macmillan, 1947.
Vause, Jordan. Wolf: U-Boat Commanders of World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997.
Werner, Herbert A. Iron Coffins. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969.
Westwood, David. The U-Boat War. London: Conway Maritime Press, 2005.
Wiggins, Melanie. Torpedoes in the Gulf. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1995.
———. U-Boat Adventures. Annapolis MD: Naval Institute Press, 1999.
Williamson, Gordon. Grey Wolf: U-Boat Crewman of World War II. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2001.
Willoughby, Malcolm. The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1957.
DOCUMENTS
Confidential Summary of Anti-Submarine Action by Aircraft (ASW-6), report completed after 2LT Salm’s flight report of U-506 sinking in July 1943, uboatarchive.net.
Dönitz War Diary: “War Diary and War Standing Orders of Commander in Chief, Submarines,” Des Führers/Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote (F.d.U./B.d.U.), Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington, D.C., and uboatarchive.net.
Enclosure to U-506 War Diary, 3rd Patrol, Labeled “Report on the Reception and Care of Laconia Shipwrecked,” National Archives and uboatarchive.net.
Hartenstein, Werner, U-156 War Diary: “U-Boat Kriegstagebücher (KTB)” for 4th Patrol, National Archives and uboatarchive.net.
Schacht, Harro, U-507 War Diary: “U-Boat Kriegstagebücher (KTB)” for Patrols 2, 3, 4, 5, National Archives and uboatarchive.net.
“Summary of Statements by Survivors, SS Heredia, American Passenger and Cargo Ship, 4732 GT, United Fruit Company, New Orleans, LA,” U.S. Navy, National Archives.
“U-506 Interrogation of Survivors,” C.B. 04051 (75),” Naval War Division (of the U.K), London, August 1943, U.K. National Archives.
Würdemann, Erich, U-506 War Diary “U-boat Kriegstagebücher (KTB)” for Patrols 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, National Archives and uboatarchive.net.
NEWSPAPERS
“21 Lost as One Craft Escapes; 36 Die on Other.” Times-Picayune, May 24, 1942.
“87 Land in Brazil from 3 Lost Ships.” New York Times, August 15, 1942.
“Allston Mate of Torpedoed Ship Tells of 16-Hour Struggle in Gulf.” Boston Daily Globe, May 26, 1942.
“America Solving Problem of Sub, Says President.” Times-Picayune, May 22, 1942.
“American Troop Convoy Reaches Port in Ireland.” Times-Picayune, May 19, 1942.
“Battle for Oil Speeds War to Supreme Crisis.” Times-Picayune, May 14, 1942.
“Battle Is Fiercer: Nazi Chutists and Tanks Fail to Halt Red Army Before Kharkov.” New York Times, May 19, 1942.
“Both Sub, Shark Hit Him, Relates Survivor of Ship.” Times-Picayune, May 18, 1942.
“Catalina Flying Boat Praised on Submarine Guard.” Times-Picayune, May 14, 1942.
“City Still Glows in Haze of Light After New Dimout.” New York Times, May 19, 1942.
“Convoy Is Largest: First Armored Forces of Our Army Land in British Isles.” New York Times, May 19, 1942.
“Declaring War on U.S. Hitler’s Biggest Blunder, Louis Lochner Discloses.” Times-Picayune, May 16, 1942.
“Doolittle, Record Maker During Peace, Leads U.S. Tokyo Raid.” Times-Picayune, May 20, 1942.
“Dutch Ship Sunk, Gun Crew Among 14 Losing Lives.” Times-Picayune, May 13, 1942.
“First Hospital in Patterson.” Morgan City Daily Review, September 1, 1978.
“Fourth Gulf Ship Hit by Torpedoes Towed into Port.” Times-Picayune, May 15, 1942.
“Greatest Boom to Follow War, Banker Believes.” Times-Picayune, May 19, 1942.
“Higgins Reveals Plans to Speed Output of Ships.” Times-Picayune, May 14, 1942.
“Injured Seaman Saved by U-Boat as Vessel Sinks.” Times-Picayune, May 24, 1942.
“M. C. General Hospital Closes with Many Laurels to Its Credit After 15 Years of Service to This Area.” Morgan City Daily Review, November 25, 1955.
“Navy Seeks 1,000 Boats for U-Boat Patrol; Relaxes Requirements, Offers Commissions.” New York Times, June 28, 1942.
“Nazi Saboteurs Planned to Blow TVA and Hell Gate, Clark Reveals.” New York Times, November 8, 1945.
“Neutral Mexican Ship Sunk as Axis Torpedo Crashes into Lighted Flag on Side.” Times-Picayune, May 15, 1942.
“Oceaneering Divers to Plug Sunken Submarine’s Oil Leak.” Morgan City Daily Review, August 14, 1992.
“Rationing of Spending by Public Urged to Bar Inflationary Buying.” New York Times, May 19, 1942.
“Reds Near Kharkov, Allies Bomb Japs.” Times-Picayune, May 17, 1942.
“Roosevelt Weighs Pipeline to Ease Gasoline Shortage.” New York Times, May 19, 1942.
“Sinkings by U-Boats Cut Sharply Under Navy’s Coastal Convoying.” New York Times, August 15, 1942.
“Slick: Oil Seeping from Ship Sunk in WWII.” Times-Picayune, August 14, 1992.
“Stalin’s Army of Rapists: The Brutal War Crime That Russia and Germany Tried to Ignore.” Daily Mail (U
K), October 24, 2008.
“Story of WWII Spies Lives On in Maine.” Bangor Daily News, July 15, 2003.
“Submarine Bill Is Signed by President.” Times-Picayune, May 14, 1942.
“Through Rose-Colored Glasses.” Times-Picayune, May 20, 1942.
“U.S. Ship Among Three Lost.” New York Times, July 8, 1942.
“U-Boats Attacked 111 Ships and Sank 92 Along Gulf-Sea Frontier During the War.” New York Times, June 4, 1945.
“U-Boat Skipper Recalls Good Hunting Off East Coast.” The Baltimore Sun, November 2, 1992.
“U-Boats Sink Vessel, 57 Lose Lives.” Times-Picayune, May 24, 1942.
“Vast Funds in Gold, Silver and Securities Assembled at Corregidor, Brought Safely to America.” Times-Picayune, May 16, 1942.
“War on Submarine Gains, Says Vinson; House Chairman Voices His Confidence of Ending Threat to Shipping.” New York Times, June 8, 1942.
“Young Navy Blimp Crews Itch to Get U-Boat on Daily Tours.” New York Times, February 12, 1942.
MISCELLANEOUS
“Thunder in the Gulf.” Louisiana Life, Summer 2000.
“Torpedoed Once—Bobs Up in USCG.” Coast Guard newsletter article about Ray Downs, 1943.
“War Diary: The Submarine Situation.” Eastern Sea Frontier, April 1942.
Warnock, Timothy. “The Battle Against the U-Boat in the American Theater,” pamphlet, Air Force Historical Research Agency, 1994.
WEBSITES
ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/IndextotheSubmarineArticl.html.
americainwwii.com/articles/sharks-in-american-waters.
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