James Willis Downing was a lieutenant in the United States Navy. He retired in 1956 after 24 years of service, which included being commanding officer of the. At the time of his death, he was the second oldest living survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor, about which he authored a book.
On the morning ofDecember 7, 1941, Downing and his new wife Morena were staying with his shipmates in Honolulu. The radio announced an attack on the Naval Station Pearl Harbor, and the sailors rushed to the port. By the time Downing arrived at the West Virginia, Japanese bombers had targeted her with nine torpedoes. Moored at a shallow water depth of only, the ship had not completely sunk, and her deck was on fire. Downing assisted the injured crew and used a water hose from the to keep the ammunition onboard from exploding. Downing tried to commit to memory the names on the dog tags of those killed, and later visited the wounded at the naval hospital. He recorded the names of the wounded and fatally injured in a notebook, along with messages they wished to convey. As the postmaster, Downing had access to the home addresses of these men, and he later wrote notes to each family, explaining what had happened to their relatives and their current condition.
Later naval career
Downing went on to be an adviser to the Brazilian fleet in Rio de Janeiro, serving aboard the, and was an assistant professor of Naval Science at Kings Point. He also was made commanding officer of the, which served as a supply ship during the Korean War. Downing additionally assumed the role of ship chaplain. In 1954, he and his crew were exposed to very high levels of radiation from Castle Bravo, part of the series of nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll. He retired from the Navy in 1956.
While serving together, Dawson Trotman encouraged Downing to court Morena Mae Holmes, an Arkansas native who had just graduated from Biola University in Los Angeles. They were married in July 1941 in Honolulu. On Christmas Day 1941, Morena returned to the mainland and would not see her husband again until they moved to Washington, D.C. in 1943. They each had responsibilities with The Navigators and remained in Colorado Springs after his retirement. They had seven children. Morena died on February 9, 2010, at age 93. Downing died on February 13, 2018, at age 104.
Book
In 2016, Downing wrote an autobiography, titled The Other Side of Infamy: My Journey through Pearl Harbor and the World of War. The book details his military career, Pearl Harbor, and how people of faith endure troubled times. Writing at age 102, Downing was honored by the Guinness World Records as the "oldest author living". With his death two years later, his title transitioned to "oldest author ever".
