The Army of American Liberation (AAL) is the name given to the active resistance to the United States
Members of the AAL in New Mexico
Government under the Generals following the coup.
Organization[]
Contrary to reports in the media under the coup the AAL was not one massive organization with units deployed across the United States fighting to topple the Generals. In fact there were seldom times when two cells would work together. The AAL was actually a philosophy adopted by those who wished to fight the Generals.
Pamphlets were produced and distributed all across the United States encouraging insurrection and giving advice on how to start a cell and how to best wage war against the authorities. The source of these pamphlets remains open to speculation. Many believe that the pamphlets were produced by a foriegn power to further destabalize the United States. The New Commonwealth and the Soviet Union have always been the prime suspects but this has been fiercely denied by both powers even when the wars of The '91 Disaster began.
Early Actvities[]
Resistance to the General's coup in 1988 was almost instantaneous but initially took the form of civil disobedience and protest rallies. The Generals cracked down quickly on these demonstrations and began restricting movement across the country by setting up road blocks between States. These roadblocks were manned by members of the National Guard transported from other States (it was feared that if Guardsmen operated in their own States then they may act sympathetically to the people they were there to police).
The McPherson Incident[]
On June 3rd 1988 two months after the coup the McPherson family comprising of Donald and Michelle McPherson and their two sons, five year old Richard and seven year old David, approached a checkpoint between South Dakota
A US National Guard checkpoint in Cleveland, Ohio (1988)
and Nebraska but stopped short of it. As two Florida Guardsmen approached their car one of them saw Michelle McPherson reach into the glovebox. The two Guardsmen believed she was going for a gun and opened fire killing all four occupants. Upon a search of the vehicle no gun was found.
Residents of the nearby townships of Buerkett and Plumfield were furious and began protesting at the checkpoint where the McPhersons were killed the next day. The Florida Guardsmen responded by firing tear gas into the crowds which soon dispersed. However during the following night a pick up truck was set on fire and driven into the checkpoint crashing into the guardbox. As the Guardsmen tried to fight the fire gunshots began to ring out in the night. Two Guradsmen were killed before they realized what was happening. Those carrying out the ambushes escaped into the night. Sporadic incidents such as this set the tone for the next few months.
Assassination of Colonel Haroldson[]
On June 18th 1988 the Military Governor of Pasadena in California, Colonel Francis Haroldson was killed by a car bomb which detonated as a convoy he was travelling in passed by. Nine servicemen were killed along with Haroldson as well as four bystanders. This was the first time the AAL had accidentally killed civilians.
Tactics/Weapons[]
It is with some irony that much of the tactics employed by the AAL were learned from former US servicemen's experience in the Vietnam War during the 1960s. The pamphlets that were dsitributed always promoted hit-and-run attacks particularly ambushes of military convoys.
This USMC Huey was forced down by small arms fire in California on Ausgust 15th 1989 in California.
"The Government we fight to overthrow and recover our freedom from are well armed and well trained. You cannot hope to fight them in pitched battles. If you and your resistance cell are attacked then you retreat. DO NOT STAND YOUR GROUND. It is better to stay alive and fight our crusade another day than it is to become martyrs to a cause by getting killed."
In the early days the members of the AAL were armed with shotguns, bolt action rifles and pistols. As time went on they began to acquire more sophisticated and capable weapons from fallen Government soldiers and Federal Agents. With these weapons their attacks became more daring. Against air attacks they were initially quite helpless but following defections by members of the Army and National Guard in 1990 some AAL cells got hold of Stinger shoulder launched missiles.
Members[]
Members of the AAL came from all walks of life
Members of the AAL came from all walks of life in the US. At first they were members of the most extreme groups in the pre-Coup United States such as survivalists, Neo-Nazis and Black Supremacy groups. Most of these groups were ready to take up arms against the previous Government and the Coup offered them the excuse to take action.
Political Extremists[]
There were poitical groups within the AAL that hoped to take advantage of the chaos of the Coup and use it to declare their own political ambitions as legal. These included the Berkley Communists, a group of students at Berkley University who hoped to remove the Generals and instal a Socialst government of their own. The Berkley Communists were all but wiped out in a series of pitched battles with federal troops throughout January 1991.
Ethnic Minorities[]
The United States has always been a racially divided nation and with the bulk of the Generals being caucasion many minorities saw the crackdowns imposed on them as racist in nature which in turn encouraged revolt and civil disobedience. Rioting in Los Angeles during August 1989 and then in St Louis a month later saw over four hundred and seven people killed the majority of whom were black or hispanic. US Govenrment records retrieved after The '91 Disaster shows that after these events the number of hispanic and black members of the AAL increased dramtically.
FPS Tactics[]
The Generals in control of Washington responded swiftly and strongly to the AAL. TheFederal Protection Service (FPS) was set up to fight any counter-revolutionary activities to the General's rule. They were authorized to use the most extreme force in tackling the AAL movement. Kidnappings, beatings, blackmail and murder were the order of the day for any members or sympathizers unlucky enough to be captured. The result of these actions by the FPS was entirely counter productive. The fear of the FPS coupled with the promise of an America better than the one before the General's took over insured there was always a constant supply of volunteers willing to join the AAL.
The '91 Disaster[]
The Invasion of Canada[]
The US invasion of Canada ushered in the events that we now know as The '91 Disaster. For many Americans this was the final straw. As the demoralized and unmotivated US Army marched into Canada they suffered huge losses against Commonwealth troops.