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Old 08-07-2021, 03:52 PM
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Thumbs up How these little-known black female WWII heroes lifted soldiers’ morale

How these little-known black female WWII heroes lifted soldiers’ morale
By: Mackenzie Dawson - New York Post - 08-07-21
Re: https://nypost.com/2021/08/07/how-th...lifted-morale/

1st Photo link: https://nypost.com/wp-content/upload...8&h=410&crop=1
Members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion take part in a parade ceremony in 1945. /Getty Images

It was 1945, and warehouses in Birmingham, England, were filled with millions of pieces of undelivered mail. As the Allied forces swept across Europe, mail delivery had become difficult, but the lack of care packages and letters from back home was hurting morale.

Enter the 6888: The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, a part of the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) of the US Army.

This all-black, all-female group of 855 women, both enlisted and officers, had a task that was both simple and nearly impossible: to deal with the mail backlog and then keep abreast of incoming deliveries.

Led by Major Charity Adams Earley, the battalion’s motto was “No mail, low morale.”

They were given six months to deal with the backlog. They did it in three. Then they headed on to Rouen, France, to do more of the same.

Sometimes, an envelope was addressed simply to “Johnny from Indiana,” or to one of approximately 7,500 possible Robert Smiths.

2nd Photo Link: https://nypost.com/wp-content/upload...rip=all&w=1024
Monument for the women of the 6888 in the Buffalo Soldier Military Park at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

“Every person in the army, headquarters, volunteers — had their own index card, and where they last were located,” says Kaia Alderson, who is bringing this little-known piece of US history to light with her book “Sisters in Arms: A Novel of the Daring Black Women Who Served During World War II” (William Morrow Paperbacks), out Aug. 3.

“They would have to take each piece of mail to match the card to know where to send it. Sometimes you would have to open the letters to get the clues you needed.”

While the book is fiction, Alderson conducted plenty of research, drawing from Major Early’s memoir, “To Serve My Country, To Serve My Race.” She also went to the Fort Des Moines Provisional Army Training School in Iowa, a major training center for the WAC, and to Camp Shanks in Orangetown, NY, where the 6888 stayed before shipping out.

3rd photo link: https://nypost.com/wp-content/upload...rip=all&w=1024
Author Kaia Alderson - Jillisa Hope Milner

While it all happened 76 years ago, these ladies are just now starting to get their due. In 2018, a monument to the 6888 was unveiled in the Buffalo Soldier Military Park at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. And a bill introduced in the House of Representatives, HR 1012, would award a Congressional Medal to the members of the 6888.

“These women have dominated my thoughts,” says Alderson. “And it’s the perfect moment for the congressional campaign to honor these women. There are only six surviving vets from that unit.”

FILED UNDER ARMY , BOOK REVIEW , WOMEN , WWII , 8/7/21
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Personal note: I had a step-mother named Alphia who was a Army Major Nurse during WWII she patched up lots of the guys. She was a Veteran and proud of it!
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Boats
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O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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