Tom Burchill

Razi Crossing Tom Burchill

In the summer of 1978, John Burchill was a bored and broke college dropout trying to survive in Munich, Germany. Desperate for money and hungry for adventure, John and his sidekick Pat Tiahrt decide to take an ill-advised job running used cars to Iran. Knowing full well that they were taking part in an illegal and potentially risky venture, they defied their parent's wishes and headed to Iran.

On the dangerous journey to Iran, John and Pat find plenty of adventure and excitement until they are apprehended by Iranian authorities on their way home. At Razi Crossing, they make a most fateful mistake that lands them in prison for what could be upwards of five years of incarceration.

In the ensuing months, the reality of incarceration quickly becomes a secondary concern as the full fury of Iranian revolution soon exploded all around them. Ironically, the prison walls provide an unexpected sanctuary amidst the chaos raging outside. That is, until one day when a prison riot led to a fire, and ultimately, the mass breakout of 2,000 inmates.

John and Pat join the escaping hoards and run for their lives into the night. They find safe harbor at the American consulate in Tabriz, but their refuge there was short-lived. In a matter of days, vigilante gunmen storm the consulate in a hail of machinegun fire, taking everyone including the American Consul captive. John and nine others who survived the violent take-over now found themselves accused of being CIA spies!

At the Revolutionary headquarters, the Americans were paraded in front of an angry mob chanting "Death to America, death to CIA." To John, it seemed there was no way out as they faced almost certain execution at the hands of an angry mob. Only with the courageous intervention of the American consul and some miraculous luck, they not only avoided execution as spies, but instead became accidental heroes of the revolution!

Even after being exonerated and hailed as brothers of the revolution, their long journey home was still fraught with danger and unexpected pitfalls. Civil order had broken down in the nation and armed radical Islamists everywhere thirsted for American blood. In the end, it would take not just a miracle, but many more miracles to bring John and Pat home safely.