Tyler Perry‘s latest Netflix film, The Six Triple Eight, explores the legacy of the women of the only all-Black, all-female unit deployed overseas during World War II.

The story, which sheds light on the little-known story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, speaks to the fact that despite not only fulfilling their orders with so many odds stacked against them, it’s a story that has not been talked about because for those living in it, going down memory lane often invoked feelings of shame and resentment rather than honor and grit.

“First of all, just getting the script, there was the shock factor of like, ‘What?! Did I not learn this in school?’ And why? Why now?” Pepi Sonuga, who portrays Elaine White in the film, said in a recent interview with Blavity’s Shadow and Act. “This should have been 20 years ago, 10 years ago, but why now? Because there’s no other time like the present, you know? It is time for us to know our history and know who we are. And I’m just, like, so honored to just be part of this incredible story, part of Tyler Perry’s baby, because it feels like his baby, right?”

The real story behind ‘The Six Triple Eight’

Formed in 1944, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, also known as the Six Triple Eight, was made up of more than 800 Black women and led by Major Charity Adams, played by Kerry Washington in the film, who was the highest-ranking Black woman in the Army at the time. In February 1945, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was deployed overseas, first to England and later to France. This marked the first and only instance of a Women’s Army Corps unit of color being stationed in Europe during World War II. The battalion predominantly consisted of Black women, but also included women of Caribbean and Mexican descent. A total of 855 women were assigned the formidable task of clearing a backlog of 17 million pieces of mail. This delay had left soldiers on the front lines, as well as their families back home, disconnected from one another.

Many deemed the mission impossible. The women were to sort and deliver a six-month backlog of undelivered mail, which consisted of 17 million letters and packages from the loved ones of the soldiers serving in the war. Under the leadership of Adams, the women worked around the clock in three shifts of eight hours each. They were responsible for sorting and redirecting the letters and packages, many of which had incomplete or incorrect addresses, all while operating in buildings that were inadequately lit and heated. Although given six months to complete the task, they successfully accomplished their mission in under 90 days. The women were provided segregated facilities that were inferior to those available to white and Black male soldiers. Demonstrating resourcefulness, they established their own food hall, hair salon, and refreshment bar.

More true story details

The Six Triple Eight were stationed in Birmingham, England, and worked endlessly — 24/7 shifts, to be exact — sorting mail in unjust conditions, such as warehouses without heat and filled with vermin, to fulfill the mission assigned to them.

The battalion coined the motto “No Mail, Low Morale,” as their efforts were vital in restoring communication and boosting the spirits of soldiers far from home. In 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously voted to award the women of the 6888th the Congressional Gold Medal.

On April 27, 2023, Fort Lee, originally named after a Confederate leader, was renamed Fort Gregg-Adams in honor of two Black U.S. Army pioneers: Lieutenant General Arthur Gregg and Lieutenant Colonel Charity Adams. This re-designation made Adams the only Black woman in U.S. history to have a military installation named in her honor. Fort Gregg-Adams is situated in Prince George County, Virginia. On November 30, 2018, a monument dedicated to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was unveiled at the Buffalo Soldier Monument Park at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

What happens at the end of ‘The Six Triple Eight’ film?

Despite not only fulfilling the task that no one believed they could pull off, the Six Triple Eight were able to reduce the mail backlog in just three months, yet they were met with even more discrimination both overseas and at home.

In the closing scenes of The Six Triple Eight, the bittersweet return to the U.S. for the women was hard to watch as not only were their contributions ignored, but they had to resume life in a segregated society. 

Perry’s film The Six Triple Eight gave viewers a glimpse into how the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion were not recognized until decades later, when Congress posthumously awarded the Six Triple Eight the Congressional Gold Medal, recognizing their contributions to the war effort along with their determination and resilience in the face of both sexism and systemic racism. 

Only two of the 888 women from the battalion remain today. In January 2024, Lena Derricott King, Ebony Obsidian’s character in the film, passed away. She was 100 years old.

The Six Triple Eight is now available to stream on Netflix.