1942: How One Commander's "Matchstick" Trick Made 4 Wildcats Destroy Zeros They Couldn't Outfly

In early 1942, American pilots were dying faster than the Pacific Fleet could replace them. The Japanese Zero dominated every dogfight, outturning, outclimbing, and outmaneuvering U.S. Wildcats with frightening ease.
The math was brutal: 43 Wildcats lost — and only 4 Zeros shot down.

But one man refused to accept that defeat was inevitable.

Lieutenant Commander John Smith Thatch, a quiet squadron leader from Arkansas, used two wooden matches on his desk to design a tactic so revolutionary that it changed the course of WWII.
That wooden-match idea became the Thatch Weave—the first coordinated fighter maneuver capable of defeating the Zero.

This video tells the full, unbelievable story:
• Why American pilots were being slaughtered in 1v1 dogfights
• How a simple matchstick demonstration rewrote 24 years of fighter doctrine
• The first real test at Wake Island — 4 Wildcats vs. 6 Zeros
• How admirals rejected the tactic, costing 48 more pilots their lives
• The historic showdown at Midway, where the weave proved unstoppable
• How the tactic spread worldwide, saving more than 8,000 pilots across WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and modern air forces
• And the final chapter of John Thatch’s life — the part almost no one knows

This is the story of innovation under fire.
Of one man who challenged doctrine, ignored fear, trusted his wingmen —
and changed the world with a matchbox.

If you're watching from anywhere in the world, comment your country or city below — I’d love to see where this story travels.