Last year Netflix released a new Tyler Perry film, “The Six Triple Eight,” honoring the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. During World War II, this unit worked tirelessly to connect American soldiers in Europe with mail from home, under the banner phrase “no mail, low morale.”
This all-Black battalion was part of the Womens’ Army Corps, and a Lafayette native, Fannie Griffin McClendon, was among their ranks. In April, the 6888 were honored with a Congressional Gold Medal. Soon, these intrepid women may be featured on a new forever stamp through the U.S. postal service, if a petition by the Six Triple Eight Stamp Project Team receives enough signatures.
In the spring of 1945, the women of the 6888th were shipped out to Birmingham, England to take on the extraordinarily difficult task of delivering a backlog of around 17 million pieces of mail. Much of the mail was damaged, poorly addressed, indecipherable — and McClendon and her fellow soldiers figured out how to deliver it, clearing what was expected to be a six month task in three months.
: This World War II vet and Lafayette native is 104 years old. Now, her story is on Netflix…