The only black, all-female unit to serve in Europe during World War II, commonly known as the Six Triple Eight, will be presented Tuesday with the Congressional Gold Medal, following a long-running campaign to recognize its efforts.
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was credited with solving a growing mail crisis during its stint in England and, upon its return, served as a role model to generations of black women who joined the military.
The unit cleared out a backlog of about 17 million pieces of mail in three months, twice as fast as projected.
It would go on to serve in France before returning home. And like many black units during World War II, its exploits never got the attention afforded its white counterparts — until now.
At a ceremony scheduled to be held in Emancipation Hall at the Capitol Visitor Center, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and others will present the medal to the family of the unit commander, Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley.
Kim Guise, senior curator and director of curatorial affairs at the National WWII Museum, said there are only two women living from the 855 who served in the unit.
“That really shows how long this recognition took,” Guise said. “It is really important to recognize the accomplishments of these women and what they went through to serve their country in wartime.”
Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore, who co-sponsored legislation to award the medal to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, called it a long-overdue honor for the women in the unit.
“These heroes deserve their dues, and I am so glad their story is being told,” Moore, a Democrat, told The Associated Press on Monday. “I am especially honored to ensure my constituent, Ms. Anna Mae Robertson, and the many others who served with her are recognized for their selfless service.”
In 2022, Congress voted 422-0 to bestow its highest honor on the 6888th.
“It’s overwhelming,” retired Maj. Fannie Griffin McClendon, 104, who lives in Arizona, told the AP after the vote. “It’s something I never even thought about it.”
McClendon joined the Air Force after the military was integrated and retired in 1971. She was the first female to command an all-male squadron with the Strategic Air Command.
The 6888th was sent overseas in 1945, when there was growing pressure from African-American organizations to include black women in what was called the Women’s Army Corps, and allow them to join their white counterparts overseas.
“They kept hollering about wanting us to go overseas, so I guess they found something for us to do overseas: take care of the mail,” McClendon said. “And there was an awful lot of mail. … They expected we were gonna be there about two or three months trying to get it straightened out. Well, I think in about a month, in a month and a half, we had it all straightened out and going in the right direction.”
The 6888th toiled around the clock, processing about 65,000 pieces of mail in each of the three shifts.
It created a system using locator cards with a service member’s name and unit number to ensure mail was delivered.
Over the years, the unit’s story started to gain wider recognition. A monument was erected in 2018 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to honor it, and the 6888th was given the Meritorious Unit Commendation in 2019. A documentary, “The Six Triple Eight,” was made about the unit’s exploits.
In 2024, Tyler Perry directed a movie for Netflix about the unit, starring Kerry Washington.