On April 29, the “Six Triple Eight,” the only Black, all-female unit to serve in Europe during World War II, was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of their service.
With more than 300 descendants of the women who served in the battalion in attendance, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson presented the medal to the family of the unit commander, Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley, during a ceremony in Emancipation Hall at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C.
“The Six Triple Eight are great American patriots, loyal to a nation that, for far too long, failed to return the favor. And I’m glad to say that’s changing, and we’re doing that here today,” Johnson said, according to the Associated Press.
In 2024, a community of volunteers used FamilySearch.org and other historical resources to document the lives and preserve the stories of each member of the 6888th on a website Honoring the 6888 at sites.google.com/view/honoringthe6888.
The mission of the ‘Six Triple Eight’
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was credited with resolving a mail crisis during its time in England and later serving as a role model to generations of Black women in the military.
The women cleared out a backlog of about 17 million pieces of mail in three months, twice as fast as projected. The battalion would go on to serve in France before returning home. And like many Black units during World War II, their exploits were not recognized until recently.
The medal
The Senate voted to bestow the Congressional Gold Medal, its highest honor, on the 6888th in 2021, and the House followed in early 2022, the Associated Press reported.
Wisconsin Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore, who co-sponsored the legislation to award the medal, called the recognition long overdue.
“This ceremony is a fitting end to a long journey to make sure that we do not forget their service,” said Moore, who represents one of the two living members of the battalion.
The Associated Press interviewed one of the women who served in the battalion, Maj. Fannie Griffin McClendon, after the congressional vote in 2022. McClendon joined the Air Force after the military was integrated and retired in 1971. She was the first female to command an all-male squadron with the Strategic Air Command.
“It’s overwhelming,” McClendon said of the medal. “It’s something I never even thought about.”
FamilySearch
A FamilySearch blog post, posted Dec. 13, 2024, provides more about the history of the 6888th battalion.
Carmen Jordan-Cox, the daughter of Annie Beatrice Knight, a member of the 6888th, said FamilySearch has been a valuable resource for learning more about her family heritage.
“FamilySearch has been absolutely wonderful in [helping us] to dig through and find all these relatives we didn’t even know we had,” she said.
