This study analyzes the effects of the stealing thunder strategy on public message acceptance in the context of military crisis situations, focusing on the mediating roles of moral and practical responsibility attribution. To address the limitations of the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), the study empirically examines the effectiveness of stealing thunder as a proactive crisis communication strategy. A nationwide experimental study was conducted with 300 Korean adults, and the findings reveal that the stealing thunder strategy significantly influences public perceptions of responsibility, which in turn affects message acceptance. Notably, moral responsibility attribution was found to play a strong mediating role. Moreover, while the use of a defensive strategy under the stealing thunder condition reduced both moral and practical attributions of responsibility, the accommodative strategy significantly decreased only moral responsibility attribution. This study is the first to empirically integrate SCCT and the stealing thunder strategy in a military crisis context, contributing to the theoretical advancement of SCCT and offering practical implications for military crisis management.