Nello Centore was born on 12 December 1919 in Beloit, Wisconsin. 

Upon the news of Pearl Harbor, Nello volunteered for the Army. He was inducted on 19 January 1942 at Hartford, Connecticut. Since he had graduated from the School of Aviation Trades in New York, he was sent to the Army Air Corps and trained to be a Flight Engineer.

With little training, Nello soon found himself stationed at Atlantic City with the 104th Observation Squadron, formerly of the Maryland Air National Guard. They flew patrols looking for German submarines lurking about in the Atlantic. Come November 1942, his unit was re-designated as the 12th Anti-Submarine Squadron. The following month his squadron moved to Langley, Virginia.  The following year the squadron was transferred to California to become the cadre source for the new 492nd Bomb Group.  Sgt. Centore was assigned to the Val Preda Crew 601 which was to serve as a Lead Crew for the 856th Bomb Squadron.

The Val Preda Crew was lost while on their eighth mission, flying as Deputy Lead of the Group's low left formation. They were hit by air-to-air rockets fired by Me-410s from a Destroyer Gruppe led by the infamous ace Rudi Dassow himself. Most of the crews hit in that attack could not bail out as their planes either blew up or spun down in such a manner men could not get to an exit. However, Val Preda and Walton (the pilots), were able to control their plane just long enough for everyone still alive to bail out. They landed in the Baltic Sea just off the coast of Rugen Island.

The German's dispatched sea rescue boats to look for their own downed pilots but would pick up the Americans as well. Nello was picked up with four others from his crew by the same boat. His well-told story is reprinted here, see the links at right.

Sgt. Centore was taken prisoner at Stralslund, Germany. After interrogation and processing, he was transported to Stalag Luft IV. Their treatment was as fair as one could have expected under the circumstances. Mail was allowed and in September he was notified his first child was born.

In January the POWs at Stalag Luft IV were divided into groups and marched out to avoid being liberated by the advancing Russians. Most of these groups had no destination and were marched aimlessly until the war's end. Nello was lucky as his group went to Stalag Luft I in Barth, Germany, which was a camp for officers. He remained there until they were liberated in May by the Russians.

Nello Centore passed away in October of 2007.