The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black, all-female Army unit to serve in Europe during World War II, was awarded Congress's highest honor on Tuesday in a historic ceremony at the Capitol's Emancipation Hall.
Known as the "Six Triple Eight," the 855-woman battalion deployed to England in 1945 with a daunting mission - to clear a massive backlog of 17 million pieces of mail intended for U.S. soldiers. The unit completed their six-month assignment in just three months, processing up to 65,000 mail pieces per eight-hour shift while maintaining detailed records to ensure accurate delivery.
The battalion created an innovative card-based system tracking over seven million military serial numbers to properly route mail addressed to service members with identical names. Their exceptional efficiency and organizational skills proved critics wrong who had doubted their abilities.
Today, only two members of the groundbreaking unit survive - Fanny McClendon, 101, and Anna Mae Robertson, 104. About 300 descendants gathered to witness the medal presentation to relatives of Lt. Col. Charity Adams, who commanded the battalion.
The Congressional Gold Medal represents the culmination of a bipartisan effort led by Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas. The legislation passed unanimously in both chambers in 2022. During Tuesday's ceremony, Moran praised the women for "breaking barriers that should never have existed and defying odds stacked against them."
The Six Triple Eight joins distinguished company, as Congress has awarded its gold medal nearly 200 times to recipients including George Washington, the Wright Brothers, Navajo Code Talkers, and the "Rosie the Riveters" who supported the war effort on the home front.
The unit has received increased recognition in recent years. In 2023, an Army installation in Virginia was renamed to honor Colonel Adams, acknowledging her pioneering leadership of this remarkable group of women who served their country with excellence despite facing both racial and gender discrimination.
Representative Gwen Moore, who championed the medal effort in the House, noted that the Six Triple Eight's story exemplifies "commitment to service and doing something bigger than yourself" - values that continue to resonate across political divides today.