Heung Jin Nim

Ascended 2 January 1984 (solar)

Heung Jin Moon, True Parents’ second son, was critically injured in a car accident on Route 9 just north of Poughkeepsie, New York, on December 22, 1983. He was traveling south from Unification Theological Seminary in Barrytown with two companions when a tractor-trailer jackknifed on an icy stretch of road and collided with the Honda Civic that Heung Jin Nim was driving. Though seriously injured, his two friends survived because, as they testified, Heung Jin Nim swerved the car at the last moment to take the brunt of the impact himself and save them. Heung Jin suffered massive head injuries and lingered in a coma for ten days before expiring at 1:18 a.m. on January 2, 1984. He was seventeen. By all accounts, he was an exemplary son. Father described him as “the most exemplary, obedient son, with the greatest piety … the most comforting son to Mother and me.”

True Parents were out of the country at the time of the accident, conducting a series of Victory over Communism rallies in Korea. A number of spiritualists had communicated to them that December 1983 was a “very dangerous time” and that True Father “must absolutely be careful.” True Father later testified that at the last rally in Kwangju, a left-leaning city with a reputation for rebelliousness, 36 terrorists were prepared to attack but were prevented from doing so because “the auditorium was already completely packed by the time they arrived.” With another 5,000 people outside, they “had absolutely no way to enter.” During Father’s speech in Kwangju, Heung Jin Nim’s accident occurred. According to True Father, “Satan lost his condition to attack me and then turned his attention to the next best, my second son.”