BOSTON – The House voted Monday to award the only all female, Black unit to serve in Europe during World War II with the Congressional Gold Medal.
The 422-0 vote follows a long-running campaign to recognize the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion.
The Senate passed the legislation last year. The unit, known in short as the Six Triple Eight, was tasked with sorting and routing mail for millions of American service members and civilians. Only a half dozen of the more than 850 members are still alive.
“It’s overwhelming,” Maj. Fannie Griffin McClendon, who is 101 and lives in Arizona, said when told of the vote. “It’s something I never even thought about it. I don’t know if I can stand this.”
The 6888th was credited with solving a growing mail crisis during its stint in England and, upon their return, serving as a role model to generations of Black women who joined the military.
But for decades, the exploits of the 855 members never got wider recognition. But that has changed, starting several years ago.
“ The Six Triple Eight was a trailblazing group of heroes who were the only all-Black, Women Army Corps Battalion to serve overseas during World War II,” said Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore, who sponsored the bill after being contacted by the daughter of 6888th member Anna Mae Robertson.
“Facing both racism and sexism in a war zone, these women sorted millions of pieces of mail, closing massive mail backlogs, and ensuring service members received letters from their loved ones,” she continued.
The 6888th was sent overseas in 1945 . The unit dodged German U-boats on their way to England and scrambled to escape a German rocket once they reached a Glasgow port.
They were deployed to unheated, rat-infested airplane hangars in Birmingham, England, and given a daunting mission: Process the millions of pieces of undelivered mail for troops, government workers and Red Cross workers. The mountains of mail had piled up and troops were grumbling about lost letters and delayed care packages. Thus their motto, “No Mail, Low Morale.”
They cleared out a backlog of about 17 million pieces of mail in three months — half the time projected. The battalion would go on to serve in France before returning home. And like so many Black units during World War II, their exploits never got the attention afforded their white counterparts.
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