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“The Six Triple Eight” recently debuted on Netflix and tells the story of the first predominantly black and female military battalion to serve overseas during World War II. The film stars Kerry Washington and was written and directed by Tyler Perry.
“You have to watch this, because this story isn’t really being told in America, and we have to tell it,” said “The Six Triple Eight” producer Nicole Avant.
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The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion consisted mostly of black American women. They were assigned to places in England and France during World War II. Their mission was to clean the mail that had accumulated for several years.
The 6888th Battalion of the Central Postal Directory marches down the street in a scene from the Netflix series “The Six Triple Eight.” (Netflix)
“When there’s no mail, morale is low,” Washington, who plays US Army Major Charity Adams, says during the film. The phrase was the motto of the battalion.
Adams commanded about 850 women. She ended the war with the rank of lieutenant colonel, becoming the highest-ranking Black woman during the war.
According to US Army records, more than 3.3 billion pieces of mail passed through military postal services to reach the battlefield in 1945 alone. The War Department began receiving complaints that soldier morale was low due to the backlog of mail. The overwhelming volume of letters and packages, coupled with a shortage of skilled postal workers, prompted the Army to deploy the 6,888.
Kerry Washington stars as US Army Major Charity Adams in the Netflix series “The Six Triple Eight”. (Left: State Archives; Right: Netflix)
“They were determined, they were committed and they were focused. And they weren’t going to let anything stand between them and their goal and their mission,” Avant said. “The only form of communication at the time was the US Postal Service.”
Historians estimate that women processed 65,000 pieces of mail in an eight-hour shift. They solved a backlog of about 17 million pieces of mail.
A National Archives photo shows the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion sorting mail. (State archive)
“Their secret was that they didn’t wait for things to be fair, right or just, or even for them to be great. They were great and they were patriotic. They wanted to serve the military. They wanted to serve the people on the front lines,” Avant said. “They didn’t really get famous, which is why we wanted to make this movie.”
Avant produced the film using her experience in politics and show business. She worked on the presidential campaign of former President Barack Obama in 2008. She also served as the US ambassador to Bahamas during Obama’s first term. She is the author of the bestseller, Think You’ll Be Happy, which pays tribute to her mother after her tragic death.. Her father, Clarence Avant, known as the “Black Godfather”, was the president of Motown Records.
“My father saw it right before he crossed over and passed away,” Avant said. “So this movie means even more to me. Extremely special because of that.”
Kerry Washington appears as US Army Major Charity Adams of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in a scene from the Netflix series “The Six Triple Eight.” (Netflix)
Member 6888 also watched the film shortly before his death. Retired CPL Lena Derriecott Bell King spoke with Perry and the cast of “The Six Triple Eight” before she died in January.
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“It meant everything, especially to Tyler Perry,” Avant said. “He made sure this story was accurate and that she saw the film before she died.”
Ebony Obsidian plays King in the film. Oprah Winfrey she also appears in the film as civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. Susan Sarandon plays First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
“Everybody wanted to tell this story, about these unsung American heroes who really changed the game and the trajectory of World War II,” Avant said. “Everyone was committed and focused and wanted to share this story of these great patriots.”
