All-female, mostly Black WWII unit receives Congressional Gold Medal
"This remarkable story has rightly captured imaginations," House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said at the award ceremony.
"It has now inspired books and movies [and] stirred the consciousness of millions of Americans who are just now hearing and sharing this incredible story," Johnson added.
He presented the Congressional Gold Medal to the family of unit commander Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley as more than 300 family members and descendants of 6888th battalion members attended the ceremony.
Stanley Earley III and Judith Earley, who are Col. Earley's son and daughter, accepted the award.
The U.S. Army deployed the predominantly Black and all-woman unit to Birmingham, England, in February 1945 to sort out a massive problem.
The Army had about 17 million undelivered pieces of mail that needed to reach their 7 million intended recipients. Many service members hadn't received mail in more than a year.
The 855-member battalion was tasked with sorting out the problem and accomplished the feat before being disbanded in 1946.
The unit received a Meritorious Unit Commendation from the U.S. Armed Forces in 2019 and was the subject of a 2024 film directed by Tyler Perry.
The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian award issued by Congress.
The House in 2022 unanimously approved an enabling bill with a 422-0 vote after the Senate approved honoring the unit in 2021.
President Joe Biden signed the enabling measure into law in 2022.
Many incorrectly referred to the 6888th as an "all-black" unit, but it was "predominantly black" and had at least two Hispanic members.
The unit's second-oldest surviving member, PFC Crescencia Garcia, 102, is Puerto Rican.
The Army mistakenly referred to the unit as "colored" or "negro," which led to its false designation as an "all-Black" unit.
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