The 6888th was tasked with processing a backlog of over 17 million pieces of mail, an especially important task at a time when letters were the only way for soldiers to interact with their loved ones.

“They inspired the soldiers to keep fighting by bringing them the letters from home,” Perry said in the film’s press releases. “As this is the only way to communicate across seas in wartime, it was so important that these soldiers got their hands on these letters. That was life for her.”

Read on to learn more about “The Six Triple Eight” and the real-life events that inspired the film, premiering on Netflix on December 20th.

Who were the Six Triple Eight?

“Six Triple Eight” is a nickname for the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only colored unit of the US Women’s Army Corps (WAC) stationed in Europe during World War II, according to Netflix’s Tudum blog.

The battalion of 855 women was mostly black military personnel, but also included some women of Caribbean and Mexican descent.

In February 1945, the 6888th was tasked with managing a backlog of over 17 million pieces of mail and sorting letters and packages that filled three aircraft hangars.

It was a daunting task, especially given that so many letters were misaddressed or addressed to common names like “Robert Smith,” according to the Buffalo Soldier Educational and Historical Committee.

The women developed an efficient system for sorting mail and worked around the clock in Birmingham, England. Despite the freezing temperatures, they had minimal heating and, due to the threat of air raids, they worked in aircraft hangars with darkened windows, making visibility difficult.

In addition to the physical challenges, they faced racism and misogyny within the Army. According to the battalion’s historical committee, they were not permitted to “sleep, shower, or eat in the same facilities as other female servicemen and women.”

The battalion was commanded by Maj. Charity Adams (later Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley), the first black woman to serve as an officer in the WAC. When the war ended, Adams was the highest-ranking black woman in the U.S. Army.

The 6888th Battalion was given six months to complete its task, but was completed in 90 days. After completing their mission in England, the battalion was transferred to France.

How accurate is Tyler Perry’s The Six Triple Eight movie?

The film’s protagonists are based on real people from the year 6888. Kerry Washington’s character, Maj. Charity Adams, was based on the battalion’s real leader.

Some moments in the film are taken directly from documented and real events. Washington tells TODAY.com that one of those real-life moments involved Adams being confronted by a superior who told her he would send a white officer to show her how to run her unit, to which Adams replied, “About my corpse.” .”

“There were so many brave moments in the script that I then read in (Adams’) memoir,” says Washington, who serves as the film’s executive producer. “I think that was a wonderful surprise to me, that we were really going to present this story in a way that was so deeply rooted in truth and in her lived experience.”

Washington also shares that Adams was “threatened with a court-martial,” similar to the film.

“In real life she is Was court-martialed,” Washington tells TODAY.com. “But because, as she says to the chaplain (in the film), ‘I’ve learned these Army laws and rules inside and out,’ she was able to win a court-martial, her status and position in the Army.” keep. And she earned several degrees through the GI Bill.”

Lena Derriecott King, played by Ebony Obsidian, was also a veteran of the battalion who helped Perry with his research.

“I met her when she was 99 years old. I didn’t know what to expect,” Perry told Hoda on TODAY, Dec. 17. “I wanted to ask her about the 6888 before I started writing.” When she comes downstairs, sits down and talks to me, I ask myself, “Will she be lucid?” Is she okay?”

Perry said his clear interaction with King quickly allayed any of his concerns. “99 and sharp. She told me these incredible stories. Her memory was so great that when I ran it, a historian was blown away that she could remember so much.”

Perry was able to show King a rough cut of the film before she died in January 2024 at the age of 100, and the filmmaker said she “loved it.”

“She saluted the screen. She laughed. But in the end it was so powerful,” he said, according to Netflix’s Tudum. “She had tears in her eyes. She just said, “Thank you for letting the world know we contributed.”

Several other characters in the film are based on real-life figures, including Oprah Winfrey’s character, civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune, and President Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, played by Sam Waterston and Susan Sarandon.

While much of the film is closely based on historical events, Perry revealed that he took some creative license near the end of the film when the entire battalion applauded and saluted.

“This greeting did not take place. It didn’t happen until many, many, many years later,” Perry told the audience at a recent screening of the film attended by TODAY.com.

“So at the end I took the liberty of greeting each of them,” he continued. “They are all welcomed when they come in because to me they represent all 855. And you see them walk through that door into a new life, a new future.”

What happened to the Six Triple Eight?

The 6888th was disbanded in 1946 and received no public recognition immediately after World War II. According to Washington, upon their return there were even rumors that they were “sent only as concubines to the black soldiers.”

“That rumor started to kind of diminish her legacy,” Washington tells TODAY.com. “When many women came back, not only were they not celebrated, they didn’t talk about what they had done.”

However, in recent years the battalion’s work has been recognized at the national level. In 2018, a memorial to the 6888th was erected in Leavenworth, Kansas, and in 2022 the battalion was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Six of the battalion’s then-living members received the honor.

In 2023, the U.S. Army also changed the name of Fort Lee military base in Virginia to Fort Gregg-Adams, in honor of Lt. Col. Charity Adams and Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg, the first black U.S. Army officer to achieve the rank of lieutenant general.

As of 2024, there are two remaining members of the 6888th: Fannie McClendon and Anna Mae Robertson.