Biography
James Veneris was a U.S. Army private from Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, and one of 21 American Korean War prisoners who refused repatriation. He crossed into China on February 24, 1954, adopted the Chinese name Lao Wen and spent the rest of his life there. He worked in a steel mill, married and raised a family. Veneris visited the United States in 1976 but returned to China, where he died in 2004.
