Captured by the Russians: A True Story

Charley Burrall lives a relatively quiet life in Maryland with his wife and six children, teaching public high school English.  But it was not always so. A press release for this book begins, “On September 11, 1984, I was taken hostage by the Soviet Union and held captive in Siberia.  I had obtained work (as a cook) on a merchant ship skippered by one of the youngest ship captains in the U.S. On a freight-hauling mission to the Arctic, our ship was seized by the Soviet Union. Held at gunpoint and threatened with 30 years in prison, this is the story of our interrogation and interaction with high-ranking officers in the Soviet military.” He adds, “I know the story sounds pretty ‘out there’ but that's where we were--out there!” It was his students, who he says heard parts of his adventure from time to time, who persuaded him to put it to paper. 

Suffice to say the story is compelling, the kind of stuff of which movies are made. With the Cold War still going on, this was not playtime. Burrall describes his nine-day confinement (or 10; the International Date Line complicates calculations such as this), his relations with his captors, and how a letter outlining his religious faith played a part in the resolution of his and his fellow crew members’ situation. Coincidentally, his first steps on American soil after his and his companions’ release were on St. Lawrence Island, in the Bering Strait, where they faced an interrogation from the American media that Burrall says was almost as severe as that from the Russians. “A page-turner,” though a cliché of the book trade, aptly applies to this volume. – NSB, St. Lawrence University Magazine
 

"You do it our way. Here, there is no God."

On September 11, 1984, I was taken hostage by the Soviet Union and held captive in Siberia. Few have the courage to follow their dream. Mine led from a small town in upstate New York to a dingy cell in Siberia. Leaving my hometown with a yearning for adventure, my travels brought me to Alaska where I obtained work on a merchant ship skippered by one of the youngest ship captains in the United States. Two years later, on a freight-hauling mission to the Arctic, our ship was seized by the Soviet Union and taken hostage to Siberia. Held at gunpoint and threatened with 30 years in prison, this is the story of how five young American sailors took a stand for their faith against high-ranking officers in the Soviet military.