Downing assisted the injured crew and used a water hose from the USS Tennessee to keep the ammunition onboard from exploding.

[1][2] Downing tried to commit to memory the names on the dog tags of those killed, and later visited the wounded at the naval hospital.

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.

[1][2] Downing went on to be an adviser to the Brazilian fleet in Rio de Janeiro, serving aboard the USS Nespelen, and was an assistant professor of Naval Science at Kings Point.

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.

[2] Prior to Pearl Harbor, Downing befriended Dawson Trotman, a Christian minister who eventually founded The Navigators, an interdenominational ministry.

[1] 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.