The Birth of Canned Beer and the Japanese Soldier on Guam

Two seemingly unrelated events took place on January 24th in the previous century.  On January 24th of 1935, the first canned beer was made and shipped.  Sales boomed, topping 200 million cans sold in the first year.  During World War II, "brewers shipped millions of cans of beer to U.S. servicemen overseas (in all likelihood, including the island of Guam).  Today, canned beer sales amount to roughly half of the $20B industry beer has become.  Cans have the advantage over bottles in that they are both easier to ship and to store.  It had taken several years to perfect the can.  It had to be both pressurized and lined with some kind of seal to protect the metal from corrosion by the carbonation in the beer.  After the Prohibition ended, it still took two years to find a brewer who was willing to take the chance.  The rest, as they say, is history.

On January 24th, 1972. farmers located a single Japanese soldier living in the jungles of Guam.  He had been alone there for 28 years after the Japanese fled the island during WW II.  It was said that the Japanese Army Sergeant was unaware the war had ended.The more I thought about it, the more I suspected there was a connection between the two events that no one had pointed out.  I couldn't quite explain it, but I was convinced kit was there.  

After reading this stories and noting the possible unspoken connection, I want to sleep, only to awaken suddenly at 4:30 AM.  All at once I knew, and it came to me in the form of a poem.  I believe you'll get the connection at once when you give it a read.

So Many Cans of Beer

Thousands of cans of it all shipped here
Leaving so many soldiers without any fear.

Left behind by GI’s retreating from Guam
It just sits in the sunshine getting so warm.

This beer left behind by GI’s on the run,
Japanese gather up, leaving one man on guard
When the GI’s return, he’s left, just the one.
His duty, it rests on his shoulders so hard.

Tough to imagine sitting there in the sun,
Resisting the urge to try that first one.
Twenty-eight years come and go, the supply he’s used up.
Now guarding just empties, he gives himself up.

You can probably see why I was sleepless.