“The Six Triple Eight” recently debuted on Netflix and tells the story of the first predominantly black and female Army battalion to serve overseas during World War II. The film stars Kerry Washington and was written and directed by Tyler Perry.
“You need to watch this because this story isn’t really being told in America, and we need to tell the story,” said “The Six Triple Eight” producer Nicole Avant.
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The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was primarily composed of black American women. They were assigned to locations in England and France during the Second World War. Their job was to clean up mail that had been left behind for several years.
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion marches down a street in a scene from the Netflix series “The Six Triple Eight.” (Netflix)
“When there’s no mail, morale is low,” Washington, who stars as U.S. Army Maj. Charity Adams, says during the film. The phrase was the battalion’s motto.
Adams commanded around 850 women. She ended the war as a lieutenant colonel and became the highest-ranking black woman during the war.
According to the US Army, more than 3.3 billion pieces of mail reached the front via military mail in 1945 alone. The War Department received complaints that soldier morale was low due to a mail backlog. A huge volume of letters and packages, as well as a shortage of qualified postal workers, led the Army to deploy the 6888th.
Kerry Washington plays the role of US Army Maj. Charity Adams in the Netflix series “The Six Triple Eight.” (Left: National Archives; right: Netflix)
“They were determined, committed and focused. And they didn’t want to let anything stand between them and their goal and their mission,” Avant said. “The only form of communication at that time was the U.S. Postal Service.”
Historians estimate that the women processed 65,000 pieces of mail per eight-hour shift. They have reduced a backlog of around 17 million pieces of mail.
A photo from the National Archives shows the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion sorting mail. (National Archives)
“Their secret was that they did not wait for things to be fair or right or just, or even for them to be excellent. They were excellent and they were patriots. They wanted to serve the military. They wanted to serve the people on the front lines,” Avant said. “They weren’t really celebrated, so we wanted to make this film.”
Avant produced the film with her background in politics and show business. She worked on former President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. She also served as US ambassador the Bahamas during Obama’s first term. She is the author of the bestselling novel “Think You’ll Be Happy,” in which she honors her mother after her tragic death. Her father, Clarence Avant, known as “The Black Godfather,” was chairman of Motown Records.
“My father saw it right before he crossed the border and died,” Avant said. “So this film means even more to me. He’s very special for that.”
Kerry Washington appears in a scene from the Netflix series “The Six Triple Eight” as U.S. Army Maj. Charity Adams of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. (Netflix)
A member of the 6888th also saw the film shortly before his death. Retired CPL Lena Derriecott Bell King met 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 that story was accurate and made sure she saw the film before she died.”
Ebony Obsidian plays King in the film. Oprah Winfrey also appears in the film as civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. Susan Sarandon plays First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
“Everyone wanted to tell this story, about these unsung American heroes who really changed the game and the course of World War II,” Avant said. “Everyone was engaged and focused and wanted to share this story of these great patriots.”
