April 29, 2025
The Congressional Gold Medal can be offered to the household of unit commander Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley on the Capitol Customer Heart.
To acknowledge the ladies of the Six Triple Eight who made up the 6888th Central Postal Listing Battalion, the unit can be honored on April 29 with the Congressional Gold Medal.
The all-Black, all-female unit was the primary of its form deployed abroad throughout World Conflict II. Throughout their time in Europe, the army girls cleared out a backlog of undelivered mail, which amounted to just about 17 million items, fixing the disaster inside three months. In accordance with The Related Press, the honour follows a long-running marketing campaign that calls consideration to the unit, which has hardly ever been acknowledged for its service upon return to the U.S.
“It’s actually necessary to acknowledge the accomplishments of those girls and what they went by way of to serve their nation in wartime,” mentioned Kim Guise, senior curator and director of curatorial affairs on the Nationwide WWII Museum.
The Congressional Gold Medal is the very best honor the US Congress bestows. In 2022, the U.S. Congress voted 422-0 to award the 6888th with the honour. Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore, co-sponsor of the invoice to honor the Six Triple Eight, mentioned the popularity is lengthy overdue. “These heroes deserve their dues, and I’m so glad their story is being informed,” mentioned Moore. “I’m particularly honored to make sure my constituent, Ms. Anna Mae Robertson, and the numerous others who served together with her are acknowledged for his or her selfless service.”
The 6888th Central Postal Listing Battalion consisted of 855 Black girls. Solely two girls who served within the history-making unit live as of this date.
“They stored hollering about wanting us to go abroad, so I suppose they discovered one thing for us to do abroad: care for the mail,” mentioned Main Fannie Griffin McClendon, one of many oldest dwelling members of the Six Triple Eight. “And there was an terrible lot of mail. … They anticipated we have been gonna be there about two or three months attempting to get it straightened out. Effectively, I believe in a couple of month, in a month and a half, we had all of it straightened out and getting in the appropriate course.” The ladies of the Six Triple Eight have been despatched abroad in 1945. Following its stint in England, the unit served in France.
The American Veterans Heart, a supporter of the 6888 Congressional Gold Medal marketing campaign, famous payments which have been launched to Congress in assist of the ladies of the Six Triple Eight: S.633 launched within the Senate by Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and H.R. 3138 launched within the Home by Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI-4). As beforehand talked about by BLACK ENTERPRISE, award-winning movie director Tyler Perry highlights the unit’s story within the 2024 Netflix documentary, “The Six Triple Eight.”
The 6888th Central Postal Listing Battalion can be honored with the Congressional Gold Medal throughout a ceremony in Emancipation Corridor on the Capitol Customer Heart. The medal can be offered to the household of unit commander Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley by Home Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and others.
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