On May 15, 1942, the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAACs) was formed, and in July 1942, the word “auxiliary” was dropped from the name, and the Women’s Army Corps (WACs) was established, granting women full military benefits equal to those of their male counterparts. The 6888th was not an All-Black or an all-African-American unit. The 6888th was a multi-ethnic unit that was predominantly Black, with at least one Puerto Rican and Mexican woman. This is a change from what we have been writing and saying for years. Recently, the committee became aware of this mistake. The second oldest 6888th veteran still with us is 102-year-old PFC Crescencia Garcia. She is Puerto Rican and knew others in the unit. We also know that there was at least one Mexican member whose two daughters confirmed this. NOTE: It is recognized that during that time, the Army, not FDR, designated the unit as “Colored” or “Negro” the more acceptable term for the race at the time. The unit was active from 1945 to 1946 and consisted of 855 women under the Command of Major Charity Adams, Captains Mary F. Kearney, and Bernice G. Henderson. Their nickname was “Six-Triple Eight,” and their motto was “No Mail, Low Morale.” [womenofthe6888th.org]
“No mail, low morale,” or so the motto goes. Even before the founding of the 6888th Central Postal Battalion, the mail was piling up for the soldiers serving during World War II. The ever-changing locations, duty stations, and movements caused a logistical challenge for getting the mail delivered on time.
On July 1, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law legislation that created the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) within the U.S. Army. During the Second World War, despite executive orders issued by President Roosevelt, the Army at large remained completely segregated. However, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Mary McLeod Bethune, the founder of the National Council of Negro Women, advocated for the admittance of African American women within the WAC. Dubbed “10 percenters”, the recruitment of African-American women to the WAAC was limited to 10 percent of the population of the WAAC to match the proportion of African-Americans in the national population.
After several units of white women were sent to serve in the European Theater of Operations during World War II, African-American organizations advocated for the War Department to extend the opportunity to serve overseas to African-American WAC units. Hence, the Six Triple Eight was created.
The Six Triple Eight served in England and France. Setting sail in February 1945, the 6888th arrived in Birmingham, England, after surviving an arduous trip across the Atlantic under the constant threat of attack by German submarines.
When they arrived at their station in England, the Six Triple Eight faced a massive challenge to sort and deliver millions of pieces of mail, totaling a six-month backlog. Through their ingenuity and hard work, the Six Triple Eight eliminated the backlog of mail in three months, far ahead of schedule. They were then sent to France to address a similar mail backlog successfully. These deliveries helped support the morale of countless soldiers on the frontlines in Europe.
Sources: WomenOfThe6888th.org and Archives.gov
LIFE AT FORT DES MOINES
From The Hartford Daily Courant, September 18, 1942
CONNECTICUT WOMEN SAY THEY LIKE LIFE AT FORT DES MOINES
Just Now Winding Up Training in Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and Eager to Get Into Service
Fort Des Moines, Iowa, September 12 – (Special) Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps officers from Connecticut are just winding up different stages of their training. Six of them finished their post-graduate specialist training today and will begin their first training duties on Monday. Two of them graduated today and began their two weeks of specialist training on Monday. It all brings them nearer to their goal of serving Uncle Sam. The six women who were given commissions on August 28 are Third Officers Katherine R. Goodwin and Margaret F. Fraser of Hartford, Rebekah Fisk of West Hartford, Ruth Alice Lucas of Stamford, Mary Frances Kearnes of Bridgeport, and Mae D. Paige of Southington. The two who graduated today are Third Officers Evelyn L. Perry of Hartford and Gladys L. Stillman of Plainville. The WAAC officer training routine comprises six weeks of basic schooling in which the women study property accountability, company administration, mess management, aircraft identification, defense against gas warfare, Army organization, and a host of other matters, including how to march well. After graduation, there are two weeks of specialist training in which the women take intensive courses on the duties of a recruiting officer, of an adjutant, of a supply officer, of an administrative officer, and they do some rapid reviewing of their past work on property accounting. When that is over, they are ready for their first temporary training assignments.
Assignments.
These assignments are training duties, a sort of internship that the WAAC officers go through so that they can learn the actual feel of command and how to handle companies in the field. It gives them a chance to put into practice all the theoretical work they have done in various fields. The six Connecticut women who graduated on August 29 have just completed their two weeks of specialist training. Starting tomorrow, they will begin on temporary training assignments. And this is what they will do: Third Officer Katherine R Goodwin will teach company administration to incoming WAAC officers. Third Officer Margaret A. Fraser will do mess management, and she has been assigned to the consolidated mess at the Fort here to learn the ropes—how to run an army mess hall. Third Officer Rebekah Fisk will be one of the officers in charge of issuing clothing at the WAAC warehouse here. Third Officer Ruth Alice Lucas will be a platoon commander with a company of WAAC auxiliaries (privates). Third Officer Mary Frances Kearney will be in the motor transport division. Finally, Officer Mae D. Paige will be in mess management, and she has just left for Fort Riley in Kansas to study at the Army’s Cooks and Bakers School. These assignments are merely for a period of weeks or months until these women have enough experience so that the Army can send them out with companies to wherever they are needed.
Likes Work.
Asked how she liked her assignment to the WAAC faculty to teach company administration, Third Officer Katherine R. Goodwin said she was delighted. Back home, she taught office practice at Weaver High School in Hartford. Talking about her experiences here at the training center, Miss Goodwin said that one of the greatest thrills was meeting so many different women from every possible section of the country—and the different accents she heard. But she missed her Hartford friends and the salt water of New England. Miss Goodwin lived at 75 Niles Street, Hartford, and graduated from Russell Sage College in 1923. She has a brother, a Captain in the Merchant Marines.
Taught at Weaver.
Third Officer Margaret A. Fraser, who has mess management as her training duty, taught home economics at Weaver High School in Hartford. She was delighted with her assignment. It was right down her alley. She has been around Iowa some since arriving here, and what surprised her most was the tall corn. She says she got a kick out of the military parades, and she doesn’t mean watching them. She means marching in them. Miss Fraser lived at 183 Branford Street. Hartford, with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas G. Fraser, before her WAAC appointment came through. Her father is a member of the Hartford Board of Education and vice-chairman of the Hartford Defense Council. She graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1936.
Feels Right at Home.
Third Officer Rebekah Fisk feels right at home with her training duties as one of the officers in charge of issuing clothing at the WAAC warehouse here. Back home, she was a buyer of lingerie at Albert Steiger Inc. The course she liked best here was property accountability. Pressed to explain, she said that the course dealt with requisitioning and issuing supplies and record keeping. It seemed to keep her pretty busy, although not so busy that she didn’t miss the green hills of New England, she said. Miss Fisk lived at 2682 Albany Avenue in West Hartford and graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1930. Her parents live in Providence, Rhode Island.
Drew Field Work.
Third Officer Ruth Alice Lucas drew fieldwork as her training assignment. She will be a platoon commander with a company of WAAC auxiliaries. She liked the military parades and drills here very much and is very enthusiastic about her first assignment.
Found Fine Cooperation.
Perhaps the most impressive factor about the training center here for Miss Lucas was the fine cooperation she found among the women here. She had never worked with large groups of women before and didn’t know what to expect. But she found a magnificent spirit here. Everybody was anxious to get along. And when you have 60 women in barracks, you can understand how important that is. In Stamford, Miss Lucas lived with her father, Mr. Walter R. Lucas, at 2 Ferris Avenue. She graduated from Tuskegee Institute in May of this year. She has a brother in the Army.
Unusual Assignment.
Third Officer Mary Frances Kearney drew the unusual assignment with the motor transport division. This section of the WAACs prepares themselves for transportation work and, when ready, will be used by the Army. Miss Kearney thought she was extremely fortunate in getting this as a first duty, since it was the motor transport course that interested her most in the training she received here. She also thought the parades here were great. But she does miss her Bridgeport friends and thinks the Iowa countryside is too flat and level. She prefers the rolling hills and ocean breezes of New England. In Bridgeport, Miss Kearney lived with her mother. Mrs. R.E. Kearney, at 406 Newfield Avenue. She graduated from Howard University in 1928 and was active in the Negro YWCA before coming here. She has a brother, a First Lieutenant in the Army Medical Corps Reserve.
Learning Mess Management.
Third Officer Mae D. Paige was not available for an interview since she had just left for the Cooks and Bakers School at Fort Riley when this reporter called. But her assignment is to mess management, and after a short period at Fort Riley, she will report back to Des Moines to help run the mess there. All these women are eager to start on these first training duties, mainly because it means that they can begin to do something for Uncle Sam instead of Uncle Sam doing things for them. And they are all anxious to do their bit in the war effort.
Connecticut WAAC officers on the porch of their barracks, left to right: Third Officers Mary F. Kearney, Bridgeport, and Ruth A. Lucas, Stamford. These women graduated on August 29, and after completing two additional weeks of post-graduate specialist courses, they will begin on first training assignments on Monday.
Worth Working For.
The Connecticut WAAC officers who received their commissions Saturday were thrilled with their gold bars on each shoulder. Third Officer Evelyn L. Perry of 184 Sigourney Street, Hartford, said there was nothing like it; it was worth working for. Third Officer Gladys L. Stillman of Plainville chimed in. She thought it was worth every bit of effort that went towards getting the commission. Miss Perry, in talking about her officer training, said that she had liked the company administration course best, with property accountability next. They were somewhat like the work she used to do with the Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford, where she worked in the group department, drawing up policies. At any rate, they involved a good deal of paper and administrative work.
Would Like Overseas Duty.
Looking past her two weeks of specialist training ahead, Miss Perry thought she would like to draw company administration as her first training assignment as a company officer. Best of all, she would like to go overseas. She liked the Iowa countryside but thought the New England corn was nicer than the famous Iowa tall corn. Fortunately, no native Iowan was around to hear that. She missed the ocean and the mountains of New England but thought the farmers here looked just like the farmers back home.
Hopes For Finance Division.
Miss Perry lived at 184 Sigourney Street, and her parents live in Vermont. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 1935. Third Officer Gladys L. Stillman who received her commission with Miss Perry, liked the property accountability course best. After she finishes her two weeks of specialist training, Miss Stillman hopes she will draw an assignment to the finance division here at the Fort. That would be right down her alley since she was a savings teller with the Burritt Mutual Savings Bank in New Britain before landing here. She misses the banking public back home, she said, and the bustle that goes with it, although she added that the bustle of work around the Fort here left little more to be desired. She also thought that a little saltwater swimming would be nice for a change. At home, Miss Stillman lived with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry B. Stillman, at 3 New Britain Avenue, Plainville. She graduated from the American Institute of Banking in 1940. But notwithstanding the light tone of these two newly commissioned officers, they are more than eager to get their specialist training completed so that they can get to work on actual training assignments. They want to get in there and pitch in with everybody else in the war effort, and they can hardly wait until all their training is completed. That is the spirit of the entire Fort Des Moines contingent, and what a spirit it is!
This photo appeared in the Detroit Tribune on September 5, 1942. The caption read, “The 12 WAACS given officers commissions last week at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, are Third Officers Adams of Ohio; Jones, Texas; Emmert, Illinois; Ward, New York; Askin, New York; Bright, Texas; Kearney, Connecticut; Lucas, Connecticut; Freeman, Texas; V. Campbell, New York; Brown, Texas; Donaldson, New York.” This copy was contributed by Sheila Kearney, niece of Mary Kearney (sixth from left in the photo).
DECORATIONS
Members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion were awarded the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal during their service. In 2019, the U.S. Army awarded the 6888th a Meritorious Unit Commendation.
MONUMENT
The monument is in the Buffalo Soldier Military Park at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, along with other monuments honoring African-American individuals and units, and consists of a 25-inch Bronze bust of the unit’s Commanding Officer, LTC Charity Adams (Earley), eight black granite panels highlighting the unit’s lineage, historical information, key unit pictures, one panel for the Corporate Donors who donate at least $6,688.88, and on the back panel is an alphabetical list, by states, of 800-plus members, of the original list of 855 assigned during WWII. Three were killed in an automobile accident.
The dimensions of the monument are:
Width – 6 feet
Depth – 4 feet
Height – 4 feet 6 inches
Bronze Bust – 25 inches tall
Dedication of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion Monument was on November 30, 2018, at the Buffalo Soldier Monument Park at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. [womenofthe6888th.org]
END