Robert B. Stinnett (March 31, 1924 – November 6, 2018) was an American sailor, photographer and author. He earned ten

battle stars A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

and a Presidential Unit Citation. He was the author of '' Day of Deceit'', regarding alleged U.S. government advance knowledge of the Japanese

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

, plunging the United States into World War II.

Life

Stinnett participated in World War II from 1942 to 1946 as a naval photographer in the Pacific theater, serving in the same aerial photo group as George H. W. Bush. After the war he worked as a journalist and photographer for the ''

Oakland Tribune The ''Oakland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group. Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' rose to become an influential daily newspaper. With the declin ...

''. He resigned from the ''Tribune'' in 1986 to research and write. Stinnett was a research fellow at the

Independent Institute The Independent Institute is an American libertarian think tank based in Oakland, California. Founded in 1986 by David J. Theroux, the institute focuses on political, social, economic, legal, environmental, and foreign policy issues. It has more ...

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

. He died on November 6, 2018, aged 94.

''Day of Deceit''

In 1982 Stinnett read ''At Dawn We Slept, The Untold Story Of Pearl Harbor'' by World War II veteran and historian Professor Gordon Prange. Stinnett went to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the ...

to investigate and write a news story. His research continued for 17 years and culminated in ''Day of Deceit'', which challenges the orthodox historiography on the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

. Stinnett claimed to have found information showing that the attacking fleet was detected through radio and intelligence intercepts, but that the information was deliberately withheld from Admiral Kimmel, the commander of the base. First released in December 1999, it received a nuanced review in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and is frequently referenced by proponents of advance knowledge theories. Many historians of the period reject its thesis, pointing to what they believe are several key errors and a reliance on doubtful sources.

The Play

In 1982 Stinnett was working as a sports photographer for the ''Oakland Tribune''. With 4 seconds left in the Big Game (football game) between Cal and Stanford, Stinnett stationed himself behind the south end zone in California Memorial Stadium, at Berkeley. As it happened, Kevin Moen and teammates Dwight Garner, Richard Rodgers, and Mariet Ford pulled off " The Play", in which Moen fielded the Stanford kickoff, lateraled the ball, and five laterals later, received the final lateral, which he ran into the end zone through the Stanford Band. Stinnett was in perfect position for a famous photographic shot wherein Moen is on the zenith point of his leap, roaring in triumph, the football held high over his helmet, and about to land on Stanford trombone player Gary Tyrell.

Bibliography

* ''George Bush: His World War II Years'' (Brassey's, 1992) * ''Day of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor'' (Simon and Schuster, 1999)

References

External links

Downloadable audio interview
with Scott Horton
Radio interview about Pearl Harbor

Unwelcome Guests: "Fooling Most of the People Most of the Time"

List of Stinnett presentations about ''Day of Deceit''

Rebuttal of Robert Stinnett's "Day of Deceit" with extensive, updated citations by Rear Admiral Richard E. Young, USN (Ret)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stinnett, Robert 1924 births 2018 deaths American non-fiction writers United States Navy sailors American conspiracy theorists United States Navy personnel of World War II