Congress honors all-Black female battalion crucial to World War II efforts
WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders honored members of the all-female 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor one can receive from Congress.
The medal was bestowed upon all 855 members of the battalion, colloquially known as the Six-Triple-Eight, to pay tribute to their service during World War II when the group was deployed to England to clear a massive backlog of mail that had been stacking up over the course of three years. The backlog hindered troops abroad from receiving letters and packages from their loved ones, resulting in concerning levels of low morale.
'They were lifelines. They surrounded the soldiers. They reminded our brave heroes of all they were fighting for, it was actually waiting back at home,' House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in remarks before awarding the medal. 'Morale reports during the war underscore just how important mail was to the soldiers' spirit, so much so that the phrase 'No mail, low morale' became widespread.'
The Six-Triple-Eight also made history as the only all-Black female battalion deployed overseas during the war. The women faced both racial and sexual discrimination, and the military was deeply segregated at the time.
The battalion was tasked with cleaning out the massive backlog, filled with more than 17 million pieces of mail that left troops without any communications from their families for months.
The battalion accomplished this by maintaining shifts around the clock despite harsh conditions such as dim lighting, poor heating and the threat of attack at any moment. The strategy resulted in the battalion clearing the backlog in just three months — cutting the projected timeline in half.
'These women and the entire Six-Triple-Eight are great American patriots loyal to a nation that, for far too long, failed to return that favor,' Johnson said. 'And I'm glad to say that that's changing, and we're doing that here today.'
More than 300 descendants of the Six-Triple-Eight were present for the ceremony on Tuesday, held in Emancipation Hall inside the Capitol. The only two living members of the battalion, Fannie McClendon and Anna Mae Robertson, watched the ceremony online, according to Johnson.
Congress passed a bill in 2022 seeking to honor the full battalion with the Congressional Gold Medal, which passed with unanimous approval in both chambers.
'None of them did it for glory. They did it for love of country,' said Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., who co-led efforts on the bill and represents the district where Robertson lives.
'They broke down barriers that never should have existed and defied odds that were stacked against them,' added Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, who spearheaded the bill in the Senate.
Johnson presented the award to Stanley Earley III, the son of Col. Charity Adams Earley, the commanding officer of the Six-Triple-Eight and the first Black woman to become an officer in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., praised Earley's work ethic in the battalion, reflecting on the unique difficulties of being a Black woman in military leadership.
'These fiercely passionate, patriotic and persistent members of The Women's Army Corps deployed knowing that they would confront the dual challenges of racism and sexism at the hands of their own military and beyond,' Jeffries said. 'We salute the ingenuity with which they sprang into battle. We salute the barriers that they broke in a system designed to push them aside. We salute their trailblazing spirit and the road that they paved for others.'
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