Wings, Wildcards, and Wild Men: Jimmy Thach, the Battle of Coral Sea, and the Coffee That Still Stands the Watch

May 7th, 1942. The Pacific was on fire. The Japanese Imperial Navy was advancing, the Allies were scrambling, and the South Pacific was about to become a proving ground for a brand-new way of war. No battleships. No ship-to-ship gun duels. Just steel decks, propeller blades, and squadrons of men launching into the unknown.

This was the Battle of the Coral Sea—the first naval engagement in history where the opposing fleets never laid eyes on each other. Carrier vs. carrier. Plane vs. plane. It was audacity in motion, courage strapped to a flight harness, and strategy painted with exhaust trails at 15,000 feet.

And in the middle of it all? A young, brainy, cigar-chomping Lieutenant Commander Jimmy Thach, flying the Grumman F4F Wildcat—a plane that, on paper, was woefully outmatched by the nimble Japanese Zeros. But here’s the thing about Thach: he didn’t care much for paper odds.

While others were praying for better aircraft, Thach invented tactics. He devised the now-legendary “Thach Weave,” a maneuver that turned two Wildcats into a deathtrap for any Zero dumb enough to chase one of them. It worked like this: If you tried to pick one Wildcat off, the other would cut across and shred you to ribbons. Teamwork, precision, and cold-blooded execution—right there in the open sky. And where did he test it for real? You guessed it—Coral Sea.

For his actions during this period, Thach was awarded the Navy Cross, and he wasn’t done yet. He’d earn a second at Midway, just a month later. If Naval Aviation had a Mount Rushmore, Jimmy Thach’s mug would be front and center—with a Wildcat in a hard bank right behind him.

Which brings us to the coffee. No, seriously. Look at the bag of Old Salt Coffee’s Brown Shoe Blend. That’s not marketing fluff—that’s Jimmy Thach, launching off the deck of a carrier, helmet on, throttles forward, ready to bring hell from the sky. That shot captured the spirit of every aviator who ever launched in a hurry and landed in a sweat.

Brown Shoe Blend is our tribute to Naval Aviators—the old-school legends and the next-gen fire-breathers. This ain’t your cousin’s caramel frappé. This is real coffee for real aviators. Sourced from high-altitude farms in Colombia and roasted just shy of full burn, it balances rich chocolate and fruity notes like a perfectly executed roll-in at 500 knots. Smooth enough for the wardroom, bold enough for the maintenance shop, and strong enough to be mistaken for jet fuel (but tastier, we promise).

This blend is brewed for those who’ve been catapulted off the deck, not coddled into a cubicle. For those who strap into ejection seats, chase night traps, or still wake up hearing the sound of a cranky startup on a cold flight line. It’s the coffee that keeps watch with you—on the flight deck, the ready room, or the dark kitchen counter of your civilian life.

And it gets better.

Every single bag of Brown Shoe Blend sold through our website sends $1 straight to the Tailhook Educational Foundation (TEF)—a nonprofit that supports the kids of Naval Aviators through scholarships and educational support. We’re not just honoring legends like Thach. We’re investing in the next generation who bear the name, legacy, and dreams of the aviators who came before.

The Coral Sea was a turning point. It was where we learned that courage could fly, that tactics mattered more than tonnage, and that victory could come from a team of underdogs flying outdated planes with new ideas. That same spirit lives in every cup of Brown Shoe Blend.

So today, on the anniversary of Coral Sea, hoist a mug—preferably one blackened on the bottom from too many burner cups and scratched from a mustache that would violate uniform regs. Hoist it to Thach, to the Wildcats, to every aviator who’s ever said “I’ve got the ball.” Hoist it to every OK 3-wire snagged on a moonless night, with fuel running low and adrenaline running high. And hoist it to the legacy we’re proud to carry forward—one scholarship, one story, one sip at a time.

Fly high. Give back. Drink coffee like you mean it.

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