December 7, 2016 is the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and Hawaii. In 1993, I visited Hawaii with my grandfather, Carl R. Thien. Although he was a World War II Pacific veteran, he never was stationed in Hawaii. Regardless, I convinced him that we needed to visit Pearl Harbor together and see the place for ourselves.
At the USS Arizona memorial, grandpa who was 75 years old walked slowly to the memorial wall that lists the names of the 1,177 killed on the battleship. By the time he reached the wall, the other visitors had already moved on, leaving the two of us alone at the far side of the memorial. I snapped his photograph standing close to the wall. Suddenly, he began crying loudly. I had never seen him crying (before or after that moment). As a sixteen year old, I felt embarrassed and looked around to see if anyone noticed him crying, but they were all preoccupied looking at the view or the shipwreck.
A moment later, grandpa composed himself and walked back to the launch without looking around or saying anything. Had I not been photographing him at that moment, I might have missed the moment entirely. He said nothing during the ride back. What made my grandfather cry? I knew about his World War II service but was not aware he had any connection to Pearl Harbor.
That evening, curiosity got the better of me and I asked grandpa if he knew anyone at Pearl Harbor. I was afraid he might become angry or tearful. Without hesitation, he simply said “Paul Hollenbach was my neighbor and friend.”
Later, when I developed my 35mm photographs from the trip, I read the names on the wall and saw the name “P. Z. Hollenbach” near where my grandfather was standing. After I taught myself to research World War II casualties, I confirmed Paul Z. Hollenbach was a Seaman 1st Class in the U.S. Navy and listed as Missing In Action (MIA) on December 7, 1941. He is memorialized in two places: the Arizona Memorial and the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl).
Had I not been to the Arizona memorial with my grandfather, I would never have known the name “P. Z. Hollenbach”. He was my grandpa’s friend from Queens, New York and thus is my small connection to December 7, 1941. If you are a relative of Paul Hollenbach, please contact me. I’d like to send you that 1993 photograph.
-Justin Taylan
Pacific Wrecks
