The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion

During World War II, there was a significant shortage of soldiers who were able to manage the postal service for the U.S. Army overseas.^[5] In 1944, Mary McLeod Bethune worked to get the support of the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, for "a role for black women in the war overseas."^[6] Black newspapers, too, challenged the U.S. Army to "use black women in meaningful Army jobs."^[7]

The women who signed up went to basic training in Georgia.^[6] Women who were already in the WAC, like Alyce Dixon, served at different locations, including the Pentagon, before they joined the 6888th.^[8]

The 6888th left the United States on February 3, 1945, sailing on the fast liner Île de France and arriving in Glasgow^[2] on February 12.^[6] The Île de France encountered several German U-boats on the trip, forcing the ship to take evasive maneuvers.^[9] The ship reached Glasgow safely. The battalion was transported by train to Birmingham.^[2] On 15 February the unit was inspected and marched in review before Lt. Gen. John C. H. Lee, Commanding General, Communications Zone, European Theater of Operations (ETO), and Maj Gen. Robert McGowan Littlejohn, Chief Quartermaster, ETO, whose responsibilities included the mail.

Army officials believed that undelivered mail was hurting morale. Many letters and packages had only the first name of the intended recipient, had a commonly used name or used nicknames.^[2] There was estimated to be a backlog of 17 million items.^[10]

The 6888th devised their own system to handle the backlog of mail.^[9] This included creating and maintaining a card index of names of those with the same or similar names, using military serial numbers to distinguish between them. This finally contained 7 million cards.^[10] The women of the 6888th worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in three shifts, processing and delivering mail – a morale booster – to fighting troops in Europe.^[1] Each shift handled an estimated 65,000 pieces of mail.^[5] In total, the unit handled mail for over four million military and civilians, and cleared backlogs in the UK and France.^[10]

Early in the operation, a white general attempted to send a white officer to "tell them how to do it right," but Major Adams responded, "Sir, over my dead body, sir!".^[6] The battalion finished what was supposed to be a six-month task in three months in May 1945.^[9]

The Battalion lived and worked in temporary, wooden buildings at King Edward's School in Edgbaston, which had been requisitioned in 1939 by the British War Office for use by the British and US armies.^[11] The thirty-two officers lived in three houses opposite and, because the 6888th was a segregated unit, the women slept and ate in different locations from the white, male soldiers.^[1] Cold weather when they arrived meant the women had to wear coats and extra clothes when working in the unheated temporary buildings.^[2]

Some of the women felt that the European local people treated them better than people did in the United States.^[12][13] However, there was evidence of sexist and racist treatment by male soldiers.^[10]

A chaplain working at Birmingham caused problems for Adams, ordering her soldiers not to report to work, but to report to his office, causing them to be AWOL.^[3] Adams had to "'counsel' him to let the women alone, "reminding him that she was in charge of the women's assignments".^[3]

Once the backlog in Birmingham had been dealt with, the 6888th crossed the Channel to Le Havre in May 1945 and was transported by train to Rouen^[2] to deal with another backlog of mail there, some of the letters being three years old.^[2] The military police in the WAC unit were not allowed to have weapons, so they used jujitsu to keep out "unwanted visitors".^[2] The 6888th participated in a parade ceremony at the place where Joan of Arc was executed.^[9]

By October 1945, the mail in Rouen had been cleared and the 6888th was sent to Paris.^[2] They marched through the city and were housed in a luxurious hotel, where they received first-class treatment.^[12] During this time, because the war was over, the battalion was reduced by 300 women, with a further 200 to be discharged in January 1946.^[2]

In February 1946, the unit returned to the United States where it was disbanded at Fort Dix, New Jersey.^[2] There was no public recognition for their service at the time.^[6]

Members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion were awarded the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal during their service.^[9] In 2019, the U.S. Army awarded the 6888th a Meritorious Unit Commendation.^[14][15]

On February 25, 2009, the battalion was honored at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.^[2] The event was attended by three former unit members of the 6888th including Alyce Dixon, Mary Ragland, and Gladys Shuster Carter.^[2] Dixon and Ragland were also honored by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in 2009.^[16]

On March 15, 2016, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was inducted into the U.S. Army Women's Foundation Hall of Fame.^[a] Battalion veteran Elsie Garris attended the Induction Ceremony.^[18][19]

On November 30, 2018, Fort Leavenworth dedicated a monument to the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Five women from the battalion—Maybeel Campbell, Elizabeth Johnson, Lena King, Anna Robertson, and Deloris Ruddock—were present at the dedication.^[20]

On May 13, 2019, US Ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson presented a blue plaque to King Edward's School to commemorate the 6888th's achievements while in Birmingham. The plaque now features on the route of guided tours organised by Birmingham's Black Heritage Walks Network.^[11][21]

On February 12, 2021, U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada)^[10] introduced bipartisan legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the members of the Women's Army Corps, who were assigned to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion during World War II. U.S. Representative Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) introduced the companion legislation in the House where it passed unanimously.^[15]

On March 14, 2022, President Biden signed a bipartisan bill to award the battalion the Congressional Gold Medal.^[10]

As of 2022, only six members survived: Romay Davis,^[b] Cresencia Garcia,^[c] Fannie McClendon,^[d] Gladys E. Blount,^[e] Lena King,^[f] and Anna Mae Robertson.^[g]

The battalion has been the subject of several film and theatre projects. In 2019, the documentary The SixTripleEight: No Mail, Low Morale directed by historian James Theres was released. Theres suggested to Colonel Edna Cummings, who helped lead an effort for the monument to the Six Triple Eight in Fort Leavenworth, that the women should be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.^[22] In 2022, the story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion inspired the development of a new musical, with the working title of "6888: The Musical", with Blair Underwood as executive producer.^[23] Tyler Perry wrote, directed, and produced an upcoming Netflix film, Six Triple Eight, based on the 6888 Postal Directory Battalion, starring Kerry Washington as Charity Adams.^[24]

Three women from the battalion who were killed in a Jeep accident—Mary H. Bankston, Mary Jewel Barlow and Dolores Mercedes Browne—were buried at the Normandy American Cemetery, three of only four women to be interred there alongside more than 9,000 men. (The fourth, Elizabeth Ann Richardson, was a Red Cross volunteer killed in a Piper Cub plane crash near Rouen in July 1945.)^[22]

The Six Triple Eight is an upcoming American war drama film written and directed by Tyler Perry, based on a 2019 WWII History magazine article by Kevin M. Hymel. It is scheduled to be released in select cinemas on December 6, 2024, before its streaming debut by Netflix on December 20, 2024.

• Moore, Brenda L. (1996). To Serve My Country, To Serve My Race. New York: New York University Press. OCLC 32854455.

• World War II – Major Charity Adams – 6888 Postal Battalion (video)
• Flash, Oprah; Johnston, Amy (2023-07-05). "Six Triple Eight: The battalion of black women erased from history". BBC News. Retrieved 2023-07-05.