Pearl Harbor survivor, 103, visits Fulton

Two gentlemen created history Tuesday morning when they met in the center aisle of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury. At 103 years of age, Jim Downing, left, is the second-oldest survivor of Pearl Harbor. Dr. Richard White, of Fulton, age 90, also served during World War II. White said while his ship, the USS Pennsylvania, was at Pearl Harbor, he wasn't at the Dec. 7, 1941, attack. Downing visited the National Churchill Museum while making a trip to Mid-Missouri.
Two gentlemen created history Tuesday morning when they met in the center aisle of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury. At 103 years of age, Jim Downing, left, is the second-oldest survivor of Pearl Harbor. Dr. Richard White, of Fulton, age 90, also served during World War II. White said while his ship, the USS Pennsylvania, was at Pearl Harbor, he wasn't at the Dec. 7, 1941, attack. Downing visited the National Churchill Museum while making a trip to Mid-Missouri.

For 50 years, Jim Downing kept his mouth shut. He didn't talk about what happened at Pearl Harbor, or his role on that day.
But he's talking now, and even traveling from his Colorado Springs home to do so. On Tuesday, he came for an informal visit to the National Churchill Museum in Fulton, including the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury. The church was originally built in London, England, in the 1600s, then bombed by Nazis in World War II.
"I lived in London, so I know some of the things that happened," he told tour guide Whit McCoskrie.
Downing is 103 years old. When he was 28, he had already served nine years in the U.S. Navy. On Dec. 7, 1941, he was assigned to the USS West Virginia - his home when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
But he wasn't on the ship when the bombs fell. He was having breakfast with his newlywed wife Morena and friends in Honolulu's Kalihi Valley. In the middle of their eggs, they heard the first explosions. By the time he and his friends reached the waterfront, the USS West Virginia had taken multiple hits.
It was burning. Downing said 105 men were killed. The ship sank.
Other ships were also dead in the water. The Oklahoma was upside down, and the Arizona was belching black smoke and red flames.
Downing and a quickly gathered group of men stared at the baffling devastation. Someone noticed an enemy plane zeroing in on them. As it dove, Downing said he could see the pilot's face. He dropped to the ground as bullets rained down, digging a trench into the ground.
As a Christian, Downing said he believed his Bible when it told him to love his enemy. At Pearl Harbor, he still did, he would later write. But Downing said he would have killed to defend himself.
Downing spent the next long hours fighting fires and retrieving bodies. Later, he would go to a hospital burn ward to help damaged men write letters home. Most of the letters were optimistic, he said - but many of those who dictated letters died that night.
Although Downing stayed silent for 50 years, he eventually wrote a book about his experiences, "The Other Side of Infamy." Available on Amazon.com, he tells how he and other sailors ran toward the attack in hopes of rescuing others - and how his faith got him through that devastating day and the war that followed.
"The generation after Pearl Harbor was involved; it was old hat to them," he said as a reason for his long silence.
As time marched on, Downing started to tell his story, mostly to family members. Then he was encouraged to write it down for other people.
"I've had a very fascinating life," Downing said. "Ten years ago, a publisher got ahold of me. They said my life is important to other people, too."
Those who lived through Pearl Harbor and World War II kept those memories, and the next generation remembered, too.
"Now, we have a generation of young people who ought to be thankful," he said. "A thankful generation should thank people for their freedom."
In the past
Downing graduated from a two-room school in the Great Depression in Plevna, a small town in northeast Missouri.
"When I grew up, the population was 110," he said, adding the population is about half that now. "My father owned the general store and (ran the) bank."
The family also was politically active.
"Six members of our family served in the Legislature; the pay was $5 a day," Downing said. "My father was in the state Legislature around the time of Truman, so they campaigned together."
Money was hard to come by during the Great Depression. In 1932, Downing started looking at the military as an employment option. Two of his great-grandfathers fought in the Civil War - on opposite sides. His aspiration was to one day run for president of the United States. The Navy arose as his best option.
He went to Hannibal and signed up. He was called up at age 19. That following spring, Downing was assigned duty on the USS West Virginia, a battleship stationed in Long Beach, California. It carried 1,500 sailors and officers.
Despite the travels, new sights and sounds, Downing felt a lack in his life. He started considering religion, and on April 8, 1935, standing in a turret, he gave his life to the Lord.
Downing and a group of like-minded sailors formed a Christian group that continues today.
"The Navigators started on the battleship I was on," he added.
Downing served in the U.S. Navy for 24 years and then continued in The Navigators as a career (learn more at navigators.org).
Downing claims he has a great memory. With 103 years under his belt, one can be confident there are very few original questions still to be asked of the old sailor. He has a pat answer for the reason for his longevity.
"Choose good grandparents," he quips, eyes twinkling.
Westminster student Jonathan Lee, a junior studying national security subjects, came to the church to ask Downing for a little career advice.
"You need to have responsibility far beyond your age and experience," Downing answered. "The military makes you grow up in a hurry. Be prepared to inherit extraordinary responsibility."
And then he said what might be the heart of everything successful.
"In my career, I found out if I would show up five minutes before everybody else, I would soon be in charge of the operation," he said.
His words didn't fall on deaf ears.
"It was humbling. It was overwhelming," Lee said. "Inspiring. Those are the words I would use."
Not the oldest
Downing is not the oldest surviving Pearl Harbor survivor. That honor goes to Ray Chavez ,of the San Diego area, who turned 105 in March. He served on the USS Condor.
"There's less than 1,000 Pearl Harbor survivors now," Downing said. "We have a reunion every year - but there are fewer and fewer."
Also visiting with Downing at the church was a Navy veteran and former Fulton eye doctor, Richard White.
"He was on the fourth (Central Missouri) Honor Flight and he still talks about it," said Doc Kritzer, a volunteer with the organization who helped bring Downing to Fulton.
White introduced himself to Downing, wearing a blue USS Pennsylvania cap on his brow. He is just 90 years old - 13 years younger than Downing.
"My ship was at Pearl Harbor, but I wasn't," he said. "We went to Saipan, Okinawa. We were bombed 58 hours before the war ended; 30 good men died. Fortunately, we were able to keep her afloat."
While one would think being sunk by six torpedoes and two bombs would be enough to end the useful life of the USS West Virginia, the ship was nearly as tough as Downing. The 624-foot ship was resurrected in May 1942, and sufficiently repaired to make it to the Puget Sound Navy Yard for an extensive refit. She went back into action and at the end of the Pacific War, the USS West Virginia swaggered into Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender. She was deactivated in 1947 and sold for scrap in 1959.
At Pearl Harbor, 2,403 Americans died and 1,178 were wounded. Eighteen ships were sunk or run aground. There was no state of war when the attack occurred. The following day, President Franklin Roosevelt spoke about infamy. Congress declared war on the Empire of Japan an hour later.