LTJG, US Navy, Carmela Tramontana Blumenthal 

Carmela Tramontana Blumenthal enlisted in the U.S. Navy on March 23, 1944 as a nurse. ¹ She took basic training at St. Albans Hospital, Long Island, New York, and later served at naval hospitals at Vero Beach, Deland, and Miami, Florida. ^{1, 2} She maintained her post in Vero Beach, Florida until 1946. She received her discharge at Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, with the rating of pharmacist first class. ^{1, 2}

Tramontana Blumenthal, originally from St. Boniface, Pennsylvania, was adopted by Joe and Carmella Tramontana. ³ Before joining the military, she was a student nurse. ² In the Navy, Blumenthal met her husband, Carlyle, a native New Mexican, and they married on October 26, 1946, in Albuquerque. ^{3, 4} Together, the couple built the family home in Albuquerque, where she lived for more than 70 years. ^{3, 4} After raising four children, Blumenthal went back to school and received her degree in therapeutic recreation. ⁴ Blumenthal taught swimming and water exercise classes for more than 35 years and often advised her students, “You have to use it or lose it.” ² A self-proclaimed “water baby,” she could often be found swimming or daydreaming about the ocean. ⁴ She was an early champion of the Special Olympics and spent many years volunteering at events. ⁴ Blumenthal was celebrated on an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. in 2017 as one of Albuquerque’s oldest World War II veterans. ⁵