Tornadoes are frequent in the plains states, and as a result, most of the homes have been built with basements or root cellars, large enough to hold all the family members, in case of a storm. Many frightening stories have been told of houses that were carried away by the force of the winds. The families, though, were still intact in that little hole over which the house had set. Just recently, a tornado hit Joplin, Missouri, and one reporter stated that: “Not many can say they’ve lived through a deadly tornado like the one that struck Joplin on Sunday…Words can’t describe their frightening experience.” The audio from inside the twister would make your hair stand on end. Several residents were purchasing items from the Fastrip on East 20th street when the tornado hit.
They huddled in the back of the store until the glass in the windows got sucked out, then they ran into the walk-in storage fridge. Amazingly, everyone in the store at the time was saved. Pictures of the store after the storm had passed showed that the building was gone, with the exception of a few twisted steel beams and debris. The walk-in fridge where everyone had gone for safety was about the only place in the whole store that was still mostly in tact with the exception of having no roof over their head. Those in the store during the storm were praying and calling on Heavenly Father and/or Jesus to save them. The saying that ‘there are no atheists in a foxhole’ seemed to hold true in Joplin that day. Those who survived that experience will probably testify that they believe their faith saved them. Atheists, of course, will say that they were just plain lucky.
During the mid 1950’s through the early 1970’s, there was fear of a nuclear attack by Russia; this period was referred to as the ‘Cold War.’ There were threats by Russian leaders, such as the following statement made by Nikita Khrushchev, “We will bury you,” referring to the western culture, but it was probably wrongfully interpreted to mean the USA and its people. Families were encouraged to build bomb shelters. Those who could and those who were just building new houses were, in fact, building bomb shelters. Food storage and other emergency items were kept in the same place in case of such an attack. It so happens that in 1969 through 1970, I was in the process of building a new home. The house was designed with a huge basement and in one end of that basement I built a bomb shelter large enough for my family and a place for storage items to sustain us for some time in case of an attack. That place, in a sense, served as our foxhole.
During the same period referred to above, there were large well-built buildings that were designated as ‘community safe,’ in case of an attack. They were also called Community Shelters and in larger cities were often located in subway stations or underground parking garages. They were, essentially, community foxholes.
There are many structures, as well as personal gear, that are designed to protect people from harm. For example, when I was in the army during the early 1950’s, we were issued a steel helmet, in case we were ever sent into battle. In the current war in Afghanistan, soldiers are also issued bullet-proof vests. They are issued many other protective clothing items that had not even been invented when I was in the service. Military personnel will always be issued a small fold-up shovel for digging a foxhole. Foxholes are all sizes, depending on the level of fear and the energy of the digger. Only one time during my basic training were we required to dig a foxhole. We were on a bivouac and another company in our battalion area was supposedly the enemy. That evening, as we camped for the night, we had to secure the area by assigning guards all around the camp. Many of us on guard duty were told to dig foxholes, not only because they were less likely to be detected, but for their protection as well. Most of our foxholes were only one or two feet deep and long enough and wide enough for our bodies. Had it been a real maneuver, the foxholes would have protected us from enemy fire much more so than had we been standing up or just lying on the ground.
Whether it be a root cellar, a basement bomb shelter or a foxhole, it is a place that can protect a body from tornadoes, high winds or even enemy fire. Probably hundreds of thousands of lives have been spared because of those many types of ‘foxholes.’ Thus the saying, “There are no atheists in a foxhole.” When a person is scared and they fear for their lives, they usually have more sacred thoughts and conversations than when they are safe and cocky. There is an atheist organization in the United States that has come out with a counter to that common statement. They use as their counter statement, ‘Atheists in a Foxhole’.
I was converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while I was in the service, but I am not a foxhole convert. Often a foxhole convert has no need for faith after he realizes he is safe and has nothing more to be fearful of. My conversion was built on faith, as Alma suggested. I allowed a seed to be planted in my breast, a seed that was nourished by much knowledge (study) and frequent visits by the spirit, the converting spirit, the spirit which leaves no room for doubt. Once a person is converted, his faith does, in some respect, serve as his foxhole against the darts of the evil one. May God bless us to be ever faithful and, if necessary, have our standard issue ‘folding shovels’ ready to dig ourselves a foxhole.