Ashore At Pearl Harbor-- Part 1: Jim Downing, Oldest Pearl Harbor Survivor

From the December 5, 2011, Colorado Springs (Co.) Gazette "Springs man has vivid memories on infamous attack."

The July 28, 2013, Colorado Springs Gazette reported that Jim Downing, 99, the oldest living Pearl Harbor survivor, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the minor league Colorado Springs Sky Sox baseball game. 

Jim Downing, then 28, thinks he may have been sitting down to a breakfast of eggs, bacon and tropical fruit when the attack came. He was a gunner's mate first class aboard the USS West Virginia, but not on his ship that fateful day.

He had joined the Navy in 1932 after graduating high school. With the Great Depression on, it was hard to get a job and this was a good start. In the meantime, he had become the West Virginia's postmaster, but his battle station was manning one of the ship's 16-inch guns.

Why Wasn't He Aboard? --GreGen