James Veneris
American defector to China
James George Veneris (1922–2004) was an American soldier during the Korean War who was captured by the Chinese and was one of 21 American soldiers at the start of the armistice who decided they would rather stay in China than return to the United States.
Early life and education
James Veneris was born into a Greek immigrant family, in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He dropped out of high school and for the most part was involved in petty crime to survive. When given the option of joining the U.S. Armed Forces or going to jail, he decided to enter the Army in hopes of getting education and learning a trade.
Career
Veneris had served in the South Pacific during World War II and said he re-enlisted because he couldn't find anything else to do and hoped Army life would provide security.
Defection
At the end of military action, all POWs in Korea were given the option by their captors of returning to their home countries or remaining with the Chinese. Veneris elected to stay in China since during his time in the prison camp he was treated well and learned Chinese. He was promised employment and education if he remained in China, so he decided to remain.
Life in China
Veneris and fellow former POW Howard Gayle Adams stayed in Jinan through the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution, sheltered by their factory co-workers and an announcement by Premier Zhou Enlai calling them "international freedom fighters". In 1963, he was allowed to study at the People's University of China.
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This entry incorporates text from “James Veneris” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.