An all-Black, all-female World War II unit received the Congressional Gold Medal on Tuesday for improving soldiers’ morale with their work sorting mail addressed to those on the frontlines.
Congress passed bipartisan legislation in 2022 to recognize the unit with the gold medal, one of the highest civilian honors. On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson hosted the ceremony to award the honor in Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol building.
“The entire Six Triple Eight are great American patriots, loyal to a nation that for far too long failed to return that favor,” said the Louisiana Republican in his opening remarks at the ceremony.
The unit, whose motto was “no mail, low morale,” worked to sort through a two-to-three year backlog of mail in just three months, surpassing the six-month goal set by the Army. The women’s work was credited with saving relationships and lifting spirits on the frontlines.
The movie “The Six Triple Eight,” directed by Tyler Perry and starring Kerry Washington as Charity Adams Earley, the commander of the battalion, was released last year, bringing the unit’s story to a wider audience.
Charity Adams Earley died in 2002. Her son, Stanley, spoke at the ceremony at the Capitol Tuesday to accept the honor on his mother’s behalf.
“The Congressional Gold Medal has reinforced the principle that those who dedicate themselves fully, regardless of race or gender can be recognized at the highest levels, and above all, that excellence matters,” Earley said.
Neither of the two living veterans of the Six Triple Eight were in attendance to receive the honor, according to retired Colonel Edna Cummings, who led a multi-year effort advocating for the honor.
“I am more than honored to be with you today to present the Six Triple Eight with our nation’s highest civilian award, the long-awaited, much-sought-after Congressional Gold Medal,” Cummings said. “The Six Triple Eight is now listed among the less than 200 recipients since General George Washington first received it in 1776.”
The Six Triple Eight is one of the units whose pictures briefly disappeared from Defense Department websites as the Pentagon worked through its purge of content promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI.)
“Please help us to ensure that the story of the Six Triple Eight and the honors and the recognition that they received are protected and remembered for future generations,” Earley said when concluding his remarks at the ceremony.
