These are the stories of the lives and service of 10 women from Connecticut who served with the Six Triple Eight. The unit was made up of 800+ women of color. Their mission was to clear warehouses in England of an estimated 17 million pieces of stalled mail. Working around the clock in three shifts and under difficult wartime conditions, the battalion developed an innovative tracking system to locate and correctly route correspondence to troops spread across the European Theater. Their motto, “No Mail, Low Morale,” reflected their understanding that letters from home were vital to soldiers’ spirits.
Tyler Perry’s 2024 movie The Six Triple Eight, starring Kerry Washington, reminded the country of the history of the unit. Two of the ten heroes lost their lives in France during the war. They are two of only three women buried in Normandy American Cemetery. The rest of the heroes from Connecticut survived the war, but their stories deserve to be told.
For a PDF document with data about these heroes, click HERE.
For a PDF document with all the bios, click HERE.
BIOGRAPHY SECTION
Click on a name to be taken to a page with their bio.
An asterisk (*) indicates the hero is buried in Normandy American Cemetery.
| * PFC MARY JEWEL BARLOW Hartford | PFC VIRGINIA ALICE BRANCH BLAKE Salisbury |
| * SGT DOLORES MERCEDES BROWNE Bridgeport | PVT PEARL ETHLEEN CUMBERBATCH COOKS New Britain |
| PFC BURNARDINE ELIZABETH FRASER New London | PFC AUDREY ELIZABETH HARRIS New Haven |
| PFC MARIAN SARAH JACKSON Hartford/Bloomfield | PVT MARGARET BEATRICE JANER Stamford |
| MAJ MARY FRANCES KEARNEY Bridgeport | PFC ELIZABETH MOORE MCNAIR Hartford |
| PFC MARGARET MAE BURGESS LOPEZ New Haven | PFC ANNA MARGUERITA TARRYK Norwich |
