Current Developments
There are significant events taking place that evidence interest in the Preemptive Strike story. An archive of these developments is shown below.August 3, 2008 - FDR Plans Sneak Attack...20/20 TV Coverage 2 Parts
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=C1cX_Fr3qyQ
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=2Uf_3E4pn3U&feature=related
July 24, 2008 - Preemptive Strike Synopsis -
A World in turmoil - 1941. Germany had conquered much of Western Europe. Japan had conquered Manchuria and all of the coastal ports of China. The World was poised to descend back into the Dark Ages with mass executions, genocide and tyranny - - but America was still officially neutral and most Americans wanted to keep it that way. President Roosevelt’s hands were tied. Or...were they???
What if America quietly allowed pilots and technicians to resign from the U.S. Military and fly and fight for China as she sought to stave off the Japanese invaders?
In a shroud of secrecy and intrigue, the American Volunteer Group was born. Adventurers, soldiers of fortune and idealists, these rough and ready men are known in the annals of history as the “Flying Tigers, “Yankee Bandits” and “gangsters.”
In the tradition of blockbuster political thrillers, "Hunt for Red October" and "Patriot Games", author/historian Alan Armstrong cleverly weaves historical fact, intrigue, and vivid characterization into his thrilling novel and companion screenplay, "Preemptive Strike".
Preemptive Strike follows icon Claire Chennault, the AVG commanding officer and his soldiers of fortune. Forced into early retirement, Chennault finds employment with a foreign warlord and flies combat missions in the undeclared Sino-Japanese War, eventually enlisting assistance from Roosevelt’s cabinet members, establishing a guerilla air corps with the money laundered through a series of “front” corporations. The catch? The guerilla air corps will be manned by American pilots flying in combat without the protection of the Geneva Convention, with the ultimate objective of bombing Tokyo and other Japanese cities – all BEFORE the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor.Their story and exploits are woven into the fabric of American folklore as a shining example of men who did “the right thing" in PREEMPTIVE STRIKE. (Alan Armstrong with revisions by John Lage)July 3, 2008 - Alan Armstrong was a featured guest on the Gold Seal Live radio program. You can listen to his interview here:
www.goldseallive.com/armstrong01.mp3
July 3, 2008 - Magazine publication Air Power History has reviewed 'Preemptive Strike'. The review can be viewed HERE
July 2, 2008 - Alan Armstrong's novel 'Preemptive Strike' has been listed on Google's Book Search. It may be viewed HERE
February 25, 2008 - Tora! Tora! Tora! Aircraft First Airshow
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=188094#188094
February 25, 2008 - Alan Armstrong on YouTube
February 25, 2008 - From the Archives: Dr. Currie's FBI File
http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/laughlincurrie.htm
February 25, 2008 - More Support for Preemptive Strike...
Dear Mr. Armstrong:
Today I finished reading your book. I remember well the phone call from my father that Sunday morning telling me about the attack on Pearl Harbor.
I compliment you on your research and detailed documentation. Your thoroughness indicates to me that Roosevelt and his inner circle probably did not commit to writing their infamous decision, if in fact they did make that decision, to take the blow at Pearl Harbor in order to get us into the war. Anent that, one reason for writing is to pass on to you my recollection of an article I read in a German publication about ten or fifteen years ago. I regret that I did not keep the magazine -- I believe it was GEO -- but in the article a German journalist was interviewing a high member of Roosevelt's administration, and put The Question to him. He obliquely admitted that they knew the attack was coming, and recounted the higher purposes for absorbing it. While my memory is hazy about the exact wording, I do remember one statement very clearly: he said, "Besides, they were very old ships." If he expressed equal regret about the very young men, I don't recall it.
But perhaps some member of Roosevelt's inner circle did indeed record something "incriminating" about knowledge of the attack. During your research did you encounter any archives pertaining to the period which were closed to you?
Garvan F. Kuskey
Santa Barbara, CA
September 12, 2007 - Preemptive Strike DVD Coming Soon! Check back soon for an official release date!
July 10, 2007 - Japanese Bomber Kate Replica featured on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPIu4p0MbTg
June 1, 2007 - The Writers Place (TWP) Screenplay Contest Finalists
The Writers Place is pleased to announce the finalists, in both the full-length and teleplay/short competitions, for the period of November 2006 through April 2007. Alan Armstrong's 'Preemptive Strike' is one of fourteen screenplays in the running.
Competition winners (1st, 2nd
& 3rd), in both the full-length and teleplay/short categories,
will be announced on July 1, 2007. www.thewritersplace.org
February 1, 2007 - Alan Armstong's Filmmaker's Blog is available online. Read his Blog
December 26, 2006 - James Van Etten of the London Morning News reviews Preemptive Strike - The Book. Read Review
December 26, 2006 - Synopsis for Preemptive Strike - The Book - by Bill Papa, Journalist and Alan Armstrong
WOULD A PREEMPTIVE STRIKE AGAINST JAPAN HAVE CHANGED HISTORY?
Until the invasion of Iraq in 2003, leaders in the United States government never endorsed the policy of preemptive invasion or attack of a sovereign nation.
Or did they?
Preemptive Strike, advances the theory that as early as December of 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt contemplated a preemptive bombing campaign against Japan originating in China. The objectives of this campaign were to blunt Japanese planned invasions of the Philippines, Malaya and the Dutch East Indies and distract Japan from any possible attack against the United States.
The American Volunteer Group, better known as the Flying Tigers wreaked havoc on the Japanese from late 1941 through the summer of 1942. But according to Preemptive Strike, the original plan of basing an American “guerilla air corps” in China was much more ambitious than merely providing 100 P-40 Tomahawk fighter planes for the defense of Chinese air space. This clandestine campaign was to have included more than 350 fighter planes and 150 Lockheed Hudson bombers.
This plan was not a clandestine affair cooked up in the back offices of the War Department. President Roosevelt himself approved it on July 23, 1941. Secretary of State Cordell Hull, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, Secretary of War Henry Stimson, Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox and Captain Claire Lee Chennault, the organizer of the Flying Tigers, were all participants in the formulation and execution of Joint Army/Navy Board 355 .
Utilizing his skill as a practicing aviation attorney, author Alan Armstrong presents his case and supporting documentation showing that the United States knew the threat that Japan posed and that Japan, as the result of reports from a spy known only as “PA,” was aware of this secret American plan. Mr. Armstrong addresses these pressing questions:
- Would this secret air offensive have altered the course of history, by preventing the attack on Pearl Harbor?
- Would such a small force of American fighters and bombers have had any significant impact against the burgeoning Japanese war machine?
- Contrary to public support of isolationism, would the American people have supported this preemptive bombing initiative?
- Would the United States have been forced to abandon its claims of neutrality if it was discovered that our government was behind this plan and was supplying the planes and the pilots for the secret bombing initiative?
- Would Germany have declared war on the United States, as FDR wished, so he could openly support his ally Winston Churchill in England?
- This story has remained hidden for nearly 65 years and now that it comes to light, it takes on even more significance given the actions of the United States in the Middle East over the last 5 years.
December 15, 2006 - Featured article by Thomas F. Norton of The Southern Aviator. View the article HERE
November 8, 2006 - EAA to host author Alan Armstrong - Secret Plan Would Have Prevented the Attack on Pearl Harbor
"Secret Plan Would Have Prevented the Attack on Pearl Harbor"
Could a plan to bomb Japan,
destroy Japanese supply lines, communications, and staging areas in
China have averted the horrendous and devastating attack on Pearl
Harbor?
As we approach national Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, December 7, Alan
Armstrong will present a program based on his new book, Preemptive Strike.
Armstrong will present a rare view of how strong personalities shape important
historical events. President Roosevelt, his cabinet and staff, together with
Captain Claire Lee Chennault and representatives of the Chinese Nationalist
Government worked secretly on a plan to bomb Japan before the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor. The failure to timely implement and execute the plan had
devastating consequences for America. The lessons to be learned from Preemptive
Strike are relevant today as America attempts to avoid the catastrophic
consequences that can befall America due to initiatives of terrorists and rogue
nations with ambitions of mounting attacks on American soil.
Armstrong, a trial lawyer in Atlanta, represents clients in connection with
aviation related matters, such as victims and their survivors in relation to
personal injuries and wrongful deaths arising out of aviation accidents.
He also represents airmen, aircraft operators, FAA certified repair stations
and other clients in aviation related matters.
The meeting and program will be held in the EAA Sport Aviation Building
located at Gwinnett County Airport, Lawrenceville, Georgia this Friday,
November 10
and is open to all. Come join us for this very informative program
beginning at
8:00 P.M. with people gathering for some "hangar flying" around 7:30.
Ample aircraft and auto parking is available. For additional
information
contact John Reitz: 770-476-2920 or jreitz@bigfoot.com
http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=39683
September 12, 2006 - Air & Car Show Flies into Rome in October. http://209.41.184.21/partners/680/public/news746393.html
June 16, 2006 - Ko Shioya, a journalist and former North American Bureau Chief for Bungei Shunju magazine, contacted Mr. Alan Armstrong concerning his own interest in the preemptive plan by America to bomb Japan prior to Pearl Harbor. You may view the .PDF document HERE.
June 13, 2006 - Anthony Paul, a journalist for the Strait Times, published a review of Preemptive Strike - the Book. You may view the .PDF document HERE.