Only Black female WWII unit receives Congressional Gold Medal
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, commonly known as the "Six Triple Eight," addressed a backlog of roughly 17 million pieces of mail in three months before serving in France and eventually returning to the U.S.
Alongside Congressional bipartisan leaders, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) presented the honor, which is the highest civilian honor awarded by Congress, to the family of the unit commander, Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley. Over 300 descendants and family members of the Six Triple Eight battalion were present for the ceremony, according to Johnson in his speech.
"This remarkable story has brightly captured imaginations, it has now inspired books and movies, stirred the consciousness of millions of Americans, who are just now hearing and sharing this incredible story," Johnson said.
Earley's children, Stanley Earley III and Judith Earley, received the award from the House and Senate leaders.
During their service in 1945, the 855-member battalion did not gain any fanfare or recognition for their feats. This medal comes after years of campaigning for the overlooked battalion that many say set an example for Black women in the military.
Congress voted 422-0 to award the 6888th with this honor back in 2022. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.), who co-sponsored the legislation, spoke at the ceremony, praising the "unsung heroes" receiving the acknowledgement 80 years later.
This honor marks the latest development in the unit's overdue recognition. A monument was erected in 2018 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in their honor, and the 6888th was given the Meritorious Unit Commendation by the U.S. Army in 2019.
The 2024 Tyler Perry-directed Netflix film about the unit, which starred Kerry Washington, earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.
Retired Col. Edna Cummings, who shared a few words of acceptance at the ceremony, directed a documentary on the unit in 2019.
"This history has now restored the passion of service, as evidenced by young girls who now dress up as members of the Six Triple Eight," she said.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) shared a few words at the ceremony, emphasizing the importance of a bipartisan celebration in today's political climate.
"We gather here today to salute these mighty veterans. We salute the ingenuity with which they sprang into battle," Jeffries said. "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 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion joins the less than 200 recipients to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.
Only Black female WWII unit receives Congressional Gold Medal originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Review: Resilience, resistance and two tour de force solos open ODC Theater's State of Play festival
Like so many arts organizations, the Mission District's ODC Theater has reason to feel dispirited by the current autocratic regime. In May, the groundbreaking venue lost $15,000 in funding for its annual State of Play Festival when the Trump administration rescinded National Endowment for the Arts grants already appropriated by Congress. Keep in mind that this significant budget item is just a small fraction of the approximately $1 million in total funding the ODC/Dance troupe and its many campus programs have lost as other funders shifted priorities. On Thursday, July 31, after a low-energy start, 2025's State of Play found its drive. Between a sparsely attended first performance and the evening's middle offering, the lobby filled with many of the city's most compelling dancers and their adventurous fans, eager to see what the night's three shows of experimental work would bring. Their persistence was rewarded by Oakland dancer Gizeh Muñiz's solo, 'Fishblod' — the kind of bizarrely riveting, unclassifiable movement art that makes such avant-garde festivals necessary and life-giving. Presenting eight artists in total for 2025, State of Play curators Zaquia Mahler Salinas and Maurya Kerr have categorized Muñiz as a 'Curious Creator,' presenting a work just 30-minutes long. (State of Play 'Risk Takers' offer hourlong works, while the 'Experimenters' give work-in-progress studio showings.) 'Fishblod,' which repeats Sunday, may be short in duration, but it is large in impact, a master class in tension. As you enter the theater, the dancer's limp body, clad in jeans and a hoodie, hangs from a rig with a scrim of glowing orange behind, human wreckage in almost imperceptible suspended motion. Kevin Lo's sound editing washes the air with a distorted soundscape of pounding waves, and Muñiz reaches for another rope and pulls tighter, tighter — when will she have to let go? Muñiz studied dance in Mexico before working with legendary San Francisco dancer Kathleen Hermesdorf, and rigorous, committed authenticity defines her every millimeter of movement. On the ground, she rolls and flops, but in ways that make you rethink the origami of the body. She feels her way through time with such intentionality that tiny motions — the wigglings of toes, a slow slide of her fingers on the floor — both command your attention and lead you subconsciously into the next section of her motion experiments, so that the progression of the solo feels fated. Subtle and then shocking lighting design by Erin Riley and Mary Clare Blake-Booth leads to a finale of mesmerizing rebounding limbs. Muñiz's artist statement says that her work is 'rooted in somatics, preverbal memories and evoking a sense of remembrance.' I cannot tell you what 'Fishblod' is about, exactly, but I can say that like Muñiz's duet 'Auiga' — performed at CounterPulse in 2024 and one of the year's best Bay Area dance performances — it feels primordial in a weirdly comforting way. The rocky start to the night came with drag artist Black Benatar's 'Black Benatar vs. the Cistem,' a 'Law and Order'-style trial of the health care system that involved a ruffly ovary costume attached to a puppet cyst. The deeply personal piece excoriated the pervasive racism faced by Black women in pain, but the show needs a lot of work finding its rhythm. (Also, dramaturgically it's missing a crucial character development bridge to its defiantly joyful ending.) The final show of opening night was a tour de force. Former Urban Bush Women member Wanjiru Kamuyu brought her 2022 solo 'An Immigrant's Story,' fiercely reenacting the jeering faced by a teenage Kenyan transplant to conservative small-town America, then widening the scope to include a panoply of immigrant experiences, even that of a Russian exiled to Sweden. Kamuyu's writing is tightly crafted, her acting is spectacular, and her dancing is radiant. 'An Immigrant's Story' repeats at 6 p.m. Friday, followed by a condensed version of Bay Area dancer Molly Rose-Williams' 'Crush,' a hilarious solo I saw (and loved) in a previous iteration. Other artists on the festival lineup include Leila Awadallah, a Palestinian dancer who divides her time between Minneapolis and Beirut, and the antic New York duo Lisa Fagan and Lena Engelstein. The resistance continues. In the lobby on Thursday, ODC Theater creative director Chloë L. Zimberg was frank but undaunted about the countercultural work the organization is undertaking in the wake of funding cuts. The theater's calling, she said, is to cultivate community members who will 'take a risk on seeing the unknown,' an endeavor the organization began two years ago with the ODC Theater Art Club, which pairs performances with mixers and discussions. 'We didn't know the funding cuts would happen so fast, and in such large dollar amounts,' Zimberg said. 'But we knew it was time to ask individuals to step up.'
Tom's Guide
4 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
How to watch 'The Rainmaker' TV legal drama online from anywhere
Adapted from the best-selling novel by John Grisham (like the 1997 movie of the same name), 10-part series "The Rainmaker" has been repackaged for a new generation but the story is essentially the same – an underdog with nothing to lose takes on the legal establishment and its corrupt corporate paymasters... Here's how to watch the "The Rainmaker" TV show from anywhere with a VPN. "The Rainmaker" premieres on USA Network on Friday, August 15 at 10 p.m. ET/PT and streams on Peacock one week later.• U.S. — USA Network via Sling/Fubo/Peacock (delayed)• CA — USA Network via CTV/ Crave (August 16)• AUS — Stan (August 16)• Watch anywhere — try NordVPN risk-free But there's more to it than that. Rudy Baylor (played by Milo Callaghan) is the hot shot rookie legal eagle who gets fired from a prestigious firm and ends up in a small-time practice with no ambition but takes on a wrongful-death lawsuit after a black man dies under hospital care. But who is representing the medical institution? You guessed it, his former employer in the intimidating figure of lead attorney Leo F. Drummond (John Slattery) plus, for extra measure, his former girlfriend Sarah Plankmore (Madison Iseman). The odds are stacked against him from the start but he digs deep into the case and brings the best out of his new colleagues. Read on to find out how to watch "The Rainmaker" (2025) online and from anywhere. "The Rainmaker" premieres on USA Network in the U.S. on Friday, August 15 at 10 p.m. ET/PT and streams on Peacock one week later. Peacock subscriptions start from only $10.99/month. Or get 12 months for the price of 10 on either tier by signing up for an annual plan. Americans away from home will need one of the best VPNs to log in to use Peacock as it will be geo-blocked when abroad. We recommend NordVPN. You'll find "The Rainmaker" available to stream on Peacock from Friday, August 22 - one week after it has been broadcast on USA Network. It also has the rights to live NFL, WWE, EPL and a huge library of binge-worthy content. Some of the best Peacock shows include "The Day of The Jackal" and "The Traitors U.K." season 3. Thanks to the wonders of a VPN (Virtual Private Network), the "The Rainmaker" should be available no matter where you are. VPN software allows your devices to appear to be back in your home country regardless of where in the world you find yourself. Our favorite is NordVPN – and you can find out why in our NordVPN review. There's a good reason you've heard of NordVPN. We specialize in testing and reviewing VPN services and NordVPN is the one we rate best. It's outstanding at unblocking streaming services, it's fast and it has top-level security features too. With over 7,000 servers, across 110+ countries, and at a great price too, it's easy to recommend. Get 70% off with this NordVPN deal Using a VPN is incredibly simple, just follow these steps. 1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is our favorite. 2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you're away in the U.K., and want to view your usual U.S. service, you'd select U.S. from the list. 3. Sit back and enjoy the show. Head to Peacock and watch the "The Rainmaker" (2025). "The Rainmaker" premieres in Canada on Friday, August 15 on USA Network via CTV and is then available to stream the next day on Crave. Crave subscriptions start at $9.99 per month for its Basic plan, up to $22 per month for Premium. Those on vacation away from Canada could try NordVPN to log in back home to watch the 2025 TV adaptation of the classic movie. In Australia, "The Rainmaker" premieres on Stan on Saturday, August 16. If you're an American Down Under, you can watch the show on your own domestic streaming platform via a VPN instead. Our favorite VPN service right now is NordVPN. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, "The Rainmaker" does not have a release date in the U.K. If that changes you will hear about it here first. Traveling in the U.K.? Don't panic. You can watch the show on your own domestic streaming platform via a VPN instead. Our favorite VPN service right now is NordVPN – try it risk-free and save over 70% off the 2-year plan. The movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola, starred Matt Damon in the Rudy Baylor role with Jon Voight as Leo F. Drummond, Mickey Rourke as Bruiser (gender-swapped from the book and the film for the TV series) and Danny DeVito as Deck. Dublin and County Wicklow with locations like St. Mary's Hospital in Phoenix Park standing in for the 'North City Hospital.' We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
WATCH: Denzel Washington explains why 'all money ain't good money' in ‘Highest 2 Lowest'
Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright talk Highest to Lowest, tackling integrity, class, and the power of truth in art and in life. In this sit-down with TheGrio's Natasha S. Alford, Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright keep it real about their new film Highest to Lowest — from 'all money ain't good money' to how class and success can shift friendships in the Black community. The Hollywood heavyweights break down why telling an authentic story matters, and how the film speaks to bigger questions about truth, unity, and what we truly value as a people. More must-reads: Rapper Sean Kingston to be sentenced for $1 million fraud scheme in South Florida In his push for fairness in college admissions, Trump has been silent on legacy preferences New lawsuit challenges Trump's federal takeover of DC police department as crackdown intensifies Solve the daily Crossword
