The only all-Black, female Army battalion that served in Europe during World War II recently received a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal.
Approximately 80 years after they served, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, also known as the “Six Triple Eight,” was honored on Tuesday at the United States Capitol. The award was presented to the family of the battalion’s unit commander, Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley, by Speaker Mike Johnson and other Congressional leaders.
Although Earley’s children, Stanley Earley III and Judith Earley, collected the award, over 300 descendants of the women in the battalion were present at the ceremony. Currently, only two out of 855 people in the unit are living.
For many, the recognition for “Six Triple Eight” has been long overdue as activists, artists and officials have pushed for years to honor the impact that the battalion has had. The group was previously honored with a monument in 2018 and a 2024 film directed by Tyler Perry. The campaign to honor the women with a Congressional Gold Medal began in 2021 after the Senate agreed to bestow the award and Congress agreed with a unanimous 422-0 vote.
“We gather here today to salute these mighty veterans. We salute the ingenuity with which they sprang into battle,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) per ABC. “We salute the barriers that they broke in the system designed to push them aside. We salute their trailblazing spirit and the road that they paved for others.”
The members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory broke barriers at a time when Black women were not allowed to serve in the military. Created in 1944 under pressure from civil rights figures such as Mary McLeod Bethune and Black-led organizations like the NAACP, the “Six Triple Eight” was composed mostly of Black women, alongside a number of Hispanic women, who were tasked with addressing a backlog of mail from soldiers in Europe.
The backlog reportedly should have taken 7 months to complete as over 17 million soldiers and government workers had letters they wanted sent. The battalion managed to process over 65,000 pieces of mail in less than half of that time, finishing their duty in three months.
As they faced both sexism and racism in Britain, the women of the “Six Triple Eight” worked tirelessly, splitting the work into three 8-hour shifts and working seven days a week.
When they returned home to the U.S. in February 1946, they received no welcome back.
“These heroes deserve their dues; and I am so glad their story is being told,” said the legislation co-sponsor, Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI,) per the Associated Press. “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.”
