Kerry Washington stars in the inspirational story of World War II’s only US Women’s Army Corps unit of colour in The Six Triple Eight. Photo: Supplied.
The Six Triple Eight tells the inspirational true story of the brave, extraordinary women of the first and only US Women’s Army Corps unit of colour to be stationed overseas during World War II.
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, led by Captain Charity Adams (played authoritatively by Kerry Washington), contributed to the war effort in a unique way. They sorted through a three-year backlog of mail – 17 million pieces of it! – that hadn’t been delivered to American soldiers far from home.
The 855 women take on an impossible mission in writer-director Tyler Perry’s historical drama. The dilemma arose after the armed forces decided to stop delivering the mail in order to save resources. In their wisdom, the leaders thought they would just stockpile all the mail until later. However, they admitted to having problems with the mail, and the morale of “our soldiers”. They even acknowledged this assignment had proven to be a logistical nightmare.
What they hadn’t anticipated was people would start to freak out because wives were not hearing from their husbands, and husbands weren’t hearing from wives. Mothers wondered whether their sons were alive or not. As people didn’t feel connected, emotions were torn apart, and morale was low.
When orders were given for Adams and the “postal battalion” to head to Europe, it was not long before they launched into action. Airplane hangars were filled with mail, and the women were given six months to try to fix this problem. They did it in fewer than 90 days, providing a morale boost when the US needed it most.
Adams (Washington, Scandal, For Colored Girls, Daughters) was aware of the enormity of the task ahead.
“Ladies, we have been ordered to provide hope, the soldiers have not heard from their loved ones, and their loved ones have not heard from them,” Adams says in the film.
“When there is no mail, there is low morale. They did not send us because they thought we could do it. We are here because they are sure we cannot.
“We are no strangers to making a shack a home. We are at war, and when you are at war, you make do. Unlike some other folks here, we have the most to prove. Now is where you show the proof. This is our mission. And we will not fail!”
Creating the character we see in the film was a moving experience for Washington: “I love that it took women, and black women in particular, to understand that in order to be successful in the winning of freedom and justice, we have to stay strong in our hearts, and that without morale, without feeling a deeper connection to your loved ones, without being able to hear from your mother or your wife or family and friends or say to them, ‘I love you’ through the mail, that people’s hearts were getting small.”
Charity Adams Earley was the commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. In 2023, Adams became the first black woman in US history to have an army fort named after her: Fort Gregg-Adams in Prince George County, Virginia.
The Six Triple Eight depicts what it was like for any woman of colour at that time, let alone in a military environment. According to Washington: “The level of misogyny and racism that you’re up against within these systems, it’s just [overwhelming].”
In this war drama, Washington is reunited with director-coproducer Perry.
“During World War II, letters from home meant everything to the boys on the front lines,” Perry explains. “But by Christmas of 1944, millions of pieces of mail had piled up in England. To get them to the troops, a new system was needed, and it would be managed by a new unit ready to prove themselves up for the task.”
Other notable performances in The Six Triple Eight are from Sam Waterston (Law & Order, Grace and Frankie) as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Oprah Winfrey (The Color Purple) as Mary McLeod Bethune.
Chronicles of the quiet heroism of everyday individuals continue to come to light … and it’s heartening!
It was the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion who brought hope to the front lines. The times were tough in the face of discrimination and a vast, unfamiliar country divided by global conflict and devastated by war.
When hope was needed, these women delivered, displaying how humanity continued to shine in unpredictable ways.
The Six Triple Eight, written and directed by Tyler Perry, is streaming on Netflix
