Nicholas Richard Centola was born February 22, 1922 in Utica, NY to Fauso "Frank" Centola (1885-1980) and Anna Battista (1892-1931). His parents were both from Italy and were married on November 9, 1912 in Utica, NY. His dad worked in a grocery store. His mom died when he was just 9 years old. Nicholas was the 5th of their 7 children which included Mary (abt. 1913-?), Luke (1915-1996), Theresa (1917-1984), Virginia (1923-2013), Jon (1926-1998) and Edith (1928-2019). Nicholas graduated from Proctor High School in 1940 with high honors. While there he was known as "Muzzey", played Football, was in the National Honor Society and was the Managing Editor for the Proctorian (Yearbook) staff.

The 1940 U.S, Census recorded the family living at 209 Kossuth Ave in Utica. It was in 1940 that Nicholas got caught on private property in the Old Forge, NY area trying to fish and was fined $15. When Nicholas registered for the draft on June 30, 1942 in Oneonta, NY he was a student at Hartwick College in Oneonta. He was 5'-8" tall, weighed 185 pounds with hazel eyes and black hair. He lived at 20 Brook St. in Oneonta at the time. He was named editor of the Hartwick College Biology Club's publication in 1941. He was also a member of their yearbook staff (Oyaron), a member of the enlisted reserve corps, a pre-med student, Sports Editor of Hilltops, the school's paper and sergeant at arms of his fraternity, Alpha Kappa Epsilon. He was awarded one of only six scholarships by the board of trustees at Hartwick College.

Nicholas leaves Hartwick and enlisted in the U.S. Army on September 9, 1942 through Albany, NY with service number 12137908. He trains to become a Surgical Technician, MOS 861, commonly known as a Medic and in May 1944 is assigned to a "replacement" company and sent overseas where he joins the 349th Infantry Regiment in Italy. In early November 1944 the 349th Infantry Regiment was in the Northern Apennines of Italy holding a defensive position after its late October advance. Pvt. Centola is killed in action on November 6, 1944. A November 13, 1944 MR lists him as MIA as of November 6, 1944 in the vicinity of S. Clemente, Italy. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. An official date of death as November 7, 1945 is consistent with the "year and a day" rule the military had with declaring a man killed when his remains were not found.

According to U.S. American Battle Monuments Commission, 1914-1950 records, Pvt. Centola was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He is memorialized at the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial, Florence, Italy.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3.

(Please see - http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org).

Can you help us write these stories? Together We Served and Fold3/Find A Grave have smartphone apps that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery and read these stories of WWII fallen.

If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute, please contact Jim Greenberg at jim.greenberg@oneonta.edu.

SBTSProject/New York/Oneida

Sources

Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1847-1849, 1907-1936 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.

Billings General Hospital, Fort Benjamin Harrison Records, 1943-2003, Processed by Paul Brockman, November 2012, Manuscript and Visual Collections Department William Henry Smith Memorial Library Indiana Historical Society 450 West Ohio Street Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56362763/nicholas_richard-centola: accessed 22 Sep 2026), memorial page for Pvt Nicholas Richard Centola (22 Feb 1922–7 Nov 1945), Find a Grave Memorial ID 56362763, citing Florence American Cemetery and Memorial, Florence, Città Metropolitana di Firenze, Toscana, Italy; Maintained by MAJ Jimmy Cotton (contributor 48803557).

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York State, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Morning Reports for August 1943: Roll 89 (2 of 5); Record Group 64: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration; Series: Morning Reports; NAID: 443545587.

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Morning Reports for March 1944: Roll 328 (3 of 3); Record Group 64: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration; Series: Morning Reports; NAID: 465792466.

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Morning Reports for May 1944: Roll 673 (1 of 3); Record Group 64: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration; Series: Morning Reports; NAID: 474898281.

"Old Forge Man Pays Deer Fine", Utica Daily Press, Utica, NY, 1941.

"Platner Urges Proctor Class to Hold Fast to Old Values", Utica Daily Press, Utica, NY, June 27, 1940, pg. 1, Second Section.

Proctorian, The, 1940, The Senior Class, Proctor High School, Utica, NY.

"Students Elected to Honor Society", Utica Observer-Dispatch, Utica, NY, April 28, 1940, pg. 5-A.

Year: 1940; Census Place: Utica, Oneida, New York; Roll: m-t0627-02861; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 67-31

Supporting Documents

Below are various Morning Reports from the National Archives that refer to him that were used to create this story.