It all started when Mary McLeod Bethune, an activist who worked with President Roosevelt, worked hard for black women’s rights and duties. She convinced Eleanor Roosevelt, the First Lady, to support her during this fight, where black women would play a more important role in the war outside of the United States.Â
The Battalion 6888 was composed of 855 black women, who had been discriminated against and segregated their entire lives. They were part of the army not only to fight for their country, but also to fight for themselves.Â
Major Charity Adams, who led the battalion, got their first mission straight to Scotland in 1945. At first, she despised their mission; taking care of the mail sounded too easy, but rapidly, she realized she couldn’t have been more wrong. Â
As soon as they got off in Europe, they were sent to an abandoned school, which would be used as a shelter, and the conditions over there were terrible. However, these women did not let it interfere with their duty; they turned the school into a functional and organized refuge.Â
They had been assigned to correctly distribute 17 million letters for the American soldiers and their families in six months. That didn’t happen because their general thought they were capable of accomplishing it, but because he was expecting their failure, just to prove the point that black women were less capable than the rest of the military.Â
These 855 women were not only fighting against the Nazis and Hitler, but they were also fighting against American soldiers and generals, the ones who supported segregation and white supremacy. They suffered day and night; they didn’t have a heating system and had to face white men constantly threatening and harassing them.
To surprise every superior in the army, they accomplished their mission in just three months, giving back to the soldiers and their families hope, morale, and communication. The letter didn’t only represent happiness, but also a fuel to fight against the Nazis, a fuel to come back home.
“No mail, low morale” – that was their motto, to supply answers and closure during these horrible days and to help these soldiers win the war. Unfortunately, the honorable work of these women was not acknowledged until three years ago, only because of the fact that they were women and black. In 2022, the US President Joe Biden gave the 6888 battalion the Congressional Gold Medal.
You might not know this battalion existed, you might not know their names, and you might not give these women the due importance, but they worked hard and fought beautifully to provide communication, the thread of hope, which these militaries hold on to.
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The article above was edited by Clarissa Palácio.
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