Netflix’s new WWII dramaThe Six Triple Eightis based on the real-life exploits of the all-black, all-women 6888th Battalion, which reopened lines of communication between the front lines and the home front during the latter stages of the war.Written and directed by Tyler Perry,The Six Triple Eightdramatizes some of the more intimate moments of the narrative, but by and large stays faithful to reality when exploring the adversity faced by the Battalion and its leader, Major Charity Adams,played by Kerry Washington.
Technically,The Six Triple Eightwas inspired by aWWII Historymagazine articleby Kevin M. Hymel, which itself went into detail about the contributions made by the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion of the Women’s Army Corps. As depicted in the movie, thecourageous real-life membersof the Battalion served in a full military capacity, and exceeded expectations all in the face of incessant doubt and discrimination. As entertaining asThe Six Triple Eightis from a dramatic standpoint, the real history of the 6888th is just as incredible.
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The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion Was An All-Black & All-Female US Army Battalion
The Famous Battalion Served In Europe During WWII
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was bornthanks to the efforts of activist and educator Mary McLeod Bethune(played by Oprah Winfrey in the movie) who lobbied for the support of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Susan Sarandon) in creating a meaningful role for black women in the war effort during WWII. The 6888th was a formal part of the blWomen’s Army Corps (WAC), the women’s branch of the United States Army created in May 1942. The unit was partially comprised of women who had been serving in other functions within the WAC, in addition to new recruits.
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The 6888th was the only predominantly black unit from the Women’s Army Corpsthat was sent overseas in World War II. Just as any other unit would, its members received basic training in the essential functions and procedures of the United States Army, and the protocols of being a soldier. They finally received orders to go overseas in February 1945 to help deal with the astonishing backlog of mail in Great Britain, which had piled up due to a shortage of available soldiers to manage the postal service.
Major Charity Adams Led Over 850 Women In The “Six Triple Eight”
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There were 855 soldiers in the 6888th, more informally known as the “Six Triple Eight”, and they were led by Major Charity Adams (full name Charity Adams Earley).Adams was the first black woman to become an officer in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, which would be renamed the Women’s Army Corps. By the end of World War II, Adams' exemplary service saw her rise in position to become the highest-ranking black woman in the Army; she finished her military career as a lieutenant colonel.
Charity Adams was recognized as someone who actively fought against racism and segregation in both a personal and professional capacity. On one occasion, when a general attempted to send a white officer to show her how to run her unit, she famously responded “Over my dead body, sir.”
Adams enlisted in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps in 1942, and quickly rose through the ranks to become a training supervisor at Fort Des Moines in Iowa, the first stop for WAC training. In 1944, she was promoted as an officer of the Training Center with the specific goal of improving efficiency and training techniques. It was her work in the Training Center that earned her the assignment to lead the 6888th Battalion, andher ability to improve efficiency played a major role in why the Six Triple Eight was so effectivein their primary postal objectives.
Before the 6888th Battalion shipped out to England, Adams was posted in Birmingham, England where she led the only company of black women in the Women’s Army Corps in their typical duties supporting the war effort. While Adams' primary job was supervising the postal unit there,she was also tasked with raising the morale of women within the Women’s Army Corps and civilian women. PerBlack History Now, Adams accomplished this by opening up a series of beauty parlors for women to socialize in. She was well-established as a change maker before the 6888th ever set foot in England.
The 6888th Battalion’s WW2 Efforts In Great Britain & France Explained
The Battalion Remedied The Extensive Backlog Of Mail To And From The Front
The women of the 6888th were charged withcleaning up the catastrophic backlog of personal mail that had built up over the middle years of the war. The 6888th shipped out to England in February 1945 with the goal of helping resolve the backlog, as the lack of correspondence was affecting morale both on the home front and on the front lines. As depicted inThe Six Triple Eight, there were quite literally millions of items that required sorting and sending; the accepted estimate is roughly 17 million total pieces of mail.
Their work gave birth to the Battalion’s motto and rallying cry of “no mail, low morale”. Their work in eliminating the backlog was a demonstration of sheer willpower and ingenuity in efficiency, asMajor Adams and other members of the unit devised a system of sorting out mail using index cardsthat aligned soldier names to their serial numbers, allowing for effective and accurate sorting of letters and packages. They used a three-shift system so that the unit was sorting mail in some capacity 24 hours a day, seven days a week until the job was complete.
After eliminating the backlog in Great Britain, the women of the 6888th were sent to France in June 1945, after victory had been declared in Europe.In France they remedied another massive pileup of mail, some of which had been stuck for more than three years. The final members of the unit didn’t return to the United States until February 1946, at which time the unit was disbanded with the war over.
What Happened To Charity Adams & The 6888th After WW2 Ended
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After the war, Charity Adams got her master’s degree in psychology, and in 1949 was married. She and her husband eventually settled in Dayton, Ohio in 1952, where Adams would go on to lead a long life in education and community service. In her 83 years,Adams received a number of awards and was honored many times for her various forms of service, including her induction into the Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame in 1979 and a Service to the Community Award from the Ohio State Senate in 1989.
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Adams' legacy can be found today in a number of places, including an all-girls elementary school in the Dayton Public School system: the Charley Adams Earley Girls Academy. More prominently, as is noted in the epilogue ofThe Six Triple Eight,her name is on the former U.S. Army Fort Lee in Virginia, which was renamed to Fort Greggs-Adamsonce the Department of Defense moved forward with renaming U.S. Army facilities that bore the names of Confederate officers. Adams died in January 2002 in her hometown of Dayton.
The 6888th Battalion did not receive any public recognition for their service once World War II ended, but were later recognized for their outstanding accomplishments. The unit was awarded several medals during their service, including the Good Conduct Medal and the World War II Victory Medal, and in 2019 the 6888th received the Meritorious Unit Commendation. In the years since WWII, the unit has received a number of other honors and awards, and in 2022,President Biden even awarded the entire unit the Congressional Gold Medal.
The Six Triple Eight
Cast
The Six Triple Eight is a World War II drama about the US Army’s all-Black, all-women battalion tasked with sorting a massive backlog of 17 million undelivered letters to American soldiers. They must complete the mission within six months, showcasing their resilience and crucial contributions during the war.
