Sterling Hall bomber dies at 58..........Madison, Wi 1970

Wow, 1970 seems so long ago now....I was living in Madison at the time...20 years old.....wow.

MADISON - Dwight Armstrong, one of the men who bombed the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Sterling Hall in August 1970, killing a researcher, died Sunday in Madison after a battle with lung cancer. He was 58.

Spurred by anti-war furor, Armstrong was 18 years old when he, his older brother, Karl, and two others bombed the Army Math Research Center, a Defense Department project, in Sterling Hall on Aug. 24, 1970. Robert Fassnacht, a 33-year-old researcher who was working late, was killed.

The incident served to dampen the anti-war movement as people recoiled at the bloodshed. Armstrong's life after the bombing was troubled at times. He told The Capital Times in 1992: "My life has not been something to write home about."

Armstrong spent seven years as a fugitive in Canada before he was captured in 1977 and convicted in the bombing. Karl Armstrong and David Fine were also convicted. A fourth man, Leo Burt, was never found.

Armstrong was paroled from prison three years later, but in 1987, he was arrested for his involvement in an Indiana drug operation, according to newspaper clips.

In interviews, Armstrong expressed remorse for killing Fassnacht, but he said at the time it was the right thing to do.

"I mean, something had to be done, something dramatic, something that showed people were willing to escalate this at home as far as they were willing to escalate it in Vietnam," he told The Capital Times in 1992.

Armstrong died at UW Hospital and is survived by his daughter, Drew; brother, Karl; and sisters, Lorene and Mira. Private services will be held.

<http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/state-and-regional/article_03868962-7df4-11df-8d19-001cc4c03286.html>

It was very interesting. I was only 17 and in high school in La Crosse back then and I learned more about what happened then in Madison than I ever knew at the time.

It wasn't the film "The War at Home" was it?

I saw the debut at the First PArk City Film Festival (now called Sundance) as an "expat" Madisonian living in PC Utah at the time... Blew us away to see our memories replayed on the big screen -with a familiar cast of characters inc. future mayor, paul Soglin. I am proud of Madison's role in the anti war movement... though the bombing wasn't good and threw us all for a loop

Need to see this movie again.

I've got to say, Netflix is great. You can find a lot there.

I remember the general mood that fall when I returned to Madison. Everyone was walking around like zombies, in a profound state of shock for months after the bombing. The general sentiment was that the incident did incredible damage to the antiwar movement, and there was a great deal of anger at the bombers and general dismay on the left.

their goal was to demonize the movement and the left in the eyes of the American people. That is why the Vietnam Vets against the war was so important...then, of course, they became infiltrated, too.

they were radical, left wing anti-war activists who made a bad decision.

they targeted the young and hotheaded.

They may or may not have been involved here - who could possibly know for sure?

Can't say I know much about Leo Burt, in fact... but the brothers were, as you say, earnest activists

He does not sound very sorry about what he did.

...I agree they did great harm to the anti-war movement. Wonder if Leo was a plant?

what do you mean by LTTE? thx

I googled it and all I found was an acronym for a terrorist org.

like, don't bother opening up this post, as there is nothing written in the box

just wondering - very interesting

in the late 60`s early 70`s madison was my home away from home.

madison was an interesting place to be..

Dwight and Karl have been very remorseful about the death they caused. They planned to do this in the middle of the night, when they assumed nobody would be in the building. This event had a chilling effect on the anti-war movement (and all citizens) in Madison...It was one thing when rioters rolled cars on State St., but this was over the top and very sobering. The movement did recover and never died here, though.

I went to Alberta Canada in the summer of 1971. Crossed the border and prominently displayed in the Canadian customs office were MOST WANTED posters of the Sterling Hall Bombers... Driving to Jasper NAtional Park we saw a HUGE meadow filled with what seemed like 1000s of tents, set up as far as the eye could see - hippies everywhere - Americans evading the draft.

Wow - it was glorious and tragic in those days

both have suffered long with the effects...

The different reactions to killing as a means of furthering one's agenda. If it's done through the military, you can kill millions and your supporters will forever remember your cause as just, your motives pure, and your actions reasonable. One death in one incident the other way, and even putative sympathizers will turn their backs. And the powers that be will use the occasion forever after as the epitome of what will happen should the powers ever slip or stumble, and therefore persuade the populace that as bloody and violent as the methods of the powerful are, they are preferable to any alternative.

Killing is bad, but millions of killings can be offset or even justified by one killing.

Robert Fassnacht, a 33-year-old researcher who was working late, was killed.

Armstrong stole 25 years from Robery Fassnacht who was also denied seeing his child grow up, saying good bye to his wife and his siblings.

...woke up imagining Nixon must have finally snapped and ordered nearby Truax AFB to bomb the Madison campus. Because my Sterling Hall work-study job (unrelated to the Army Math Research Center) gave me access to the building, and because I even looked a little like Leo Burt, I briefly found myself a "person of interest" to the authorities. Interesting times, to say the least...way way back when Madison really was "The Berkeley of the Midwest"!