The Sterling Hall Trials: Prosecuting the Vietnam War

When Sterling Hall Bomber David Fine was sentenced, he drew a moral equivalency to the end of World War II.

“And I would just like to say that all those who join me in mourning the death of Robert Fassnacht in the bombing of army math would also on this day the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, join with me in the mourning of the deaths of 75,000 Japanese people and allied prisoners of war,” said Fine during his hearing.

In June of 1976, Fine would be the second Sterling Hall bomber convicted of the events that took place on the morning of Aug. 24, 1970. Fine only received seven years, a shorter initial sentence compared to Karl and Dwight Armstrong. The Vietnam War ending before Fine’s conviction might have contributed to this.

Three years earlier, fellow bomber Karleton Armstrong accepted entered a plea resulting in a 23-year sentence, eventually serving seven years of it. In the discovery of Karleton, two prior arson involvements were brought up and testimony from police was revealed.

“The defendant stated everybody has got to die some time,” and, “that it (the death of Robert Fassnacht) was a tactical error that he had to live with and he no longer felt any guilt for it and that all it did is tend to make his actions counter revolutionary rather than revolutionary,” police testimony from the discovery of Karleton.

The sentencing also brought up discussion revolving around the reason that the bombing had taken place, the Vietnam War.

“If only a portion of this sympathy that had been extended, as far as Mr. Fassnacht is concerned had been really prevalent in the minds and the hearts of the people prior to our involvement in that Vietnamese war the thing wouldn’t have happened,” said Donald Armstrong, father of Karleton and Dwight.

Karleton explained his regrets about the death during his time on the run in Canada.

“I thought that all the strength that I ever had was used in the bombing of army mathematics research center. And I felt that any chance of getting that strength back was destroyed when my mind was literally devastated by Mr Fassnacht’s death,” said Karleton Armstrong.

Fine on the other hand, received many character letters displaying his character prior to the bombing.

“I believe that David Fine is an exceedingly bright young man who could prove to be a source of great blessing for his country and for mankind,” said Rabbi Herbert Drooz, in one of the letters, which Media Milwaukee obtained from the court file.

A professor at the University of Pittsburgh whose son became friends with Fine at UW-Madison urged the judge to weigh his future potential. A comment of note as Fine finished his school at the University of Maryland after his sentence.

One year after Fine’s sentencing, Dwight Armstrong was sentenced to seven years in prison, the same as Fine.

Dwight was sentenced only two months after he was found in Toronto in April of 1977, a sense that people had moved on from the bombing may have been a cause for a short trial and less harsh sentence.

The court hearings of the three men found all indicated that the murder of Robert Fassnacht was an accident, and the goal of the demonstration was never to injure anyone. Court documents revealed the students had targeted Sterling Hall because of its connection to the United States Army. A suspicion that was later confirmed with documents received from the UW-Madison campus.

The act of the bombing has drawn comparisons to other events that occurred after Sterling Hall in 1970. Most notably, the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

The materials used in the bombing were similar to that of Sterling Hall. Fertilizer and fuel as the main components to the homemade bombs were found in both cases. The main difference in the two cases was the casualties. In Oklahoma City 168 people were killed, including 19 children. The sentencing was also proportionally different as Terry Nichols received a life sentence in 1998 and Timothy McVeigh was given the death penalty just one year prior.

One man who some suspected of being the fourth member of the Sterling Hall bombers Leo Burt, was the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. His 17 years of bombing resulted in three deaths ending in 1998 when he was sentenced to serve four consecutive life terms.

The difference in the sentencing of these three events shows a clearer picture of how the Armstrong brothers and David Fine’s court decisions were made. A single event with one casualty, in a society that had a majority of people sympathizing with this same cause was a major factor in the men only serving seven years. These decisions also show the scope of how certain crimes are judged, they are not decided in a vacuum and outside influence might be a large factor.

“Protests continued over the next two years,” said UW-Madison professor and former student Paul Sondel in an interview in 2023. “In the spring of 1972, I remember specifically protests with marching and demonstrations on the street that remained largely peaceful.”