“No Mail, Low Morale” was a simple but effective motto for the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, or “Six Triple Eight.”
The only all-female, predominantly Black Army unit, with some women of Hispanic or Caribbean descent, was sent overseas during World War II. The unit consisted of 850 female officers and enlisted personnel who were selected from over 6,000 women of color serving in the Army Air Corps and Service Corps. The 6888th operated as a full Army battalion – this self-contained unit managed everything internally, from mess hall to public affairs, and had a battalion newsletter, Special Delivery. During this era of segregation, the women faced racism and sexism from the Army that was meant to support them.
The unit arrived in England in early 1945 and found warehouses filled with undelivered mail and packages that had been collecting since the war started. The women had to organize an effective and efficient system to process the monstrous piles of mail, while also repackaging anything damaged before sending it to the next line of distribution. Besides the extraordinary amount of mail, the women also had to locate the covertly moving soldiers and distinguish them by their ID tag rather than the common names or nicknames. The damp, cold and rat-infested environment in the warehouses created terrible working conditions. The women decided to work around the clock, seven days a week, in three 8-hour shifts. Through their dedication, 17 million pieces of mail were redistributed in only 3-months after being assigned 6-months to complete the previously impossible task!
When the war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945, the Six Triple Eight were still needed. The unit transferred to Rouen, France, where they were given another 6-months to organize and distribute the mail, which these incredible women delivered again in half the time!
By November 1945, after a transfer to Paris, only 558 women from the initial 850 were still active in the battalion. The 6888th battalion was officially disbanded on March 9, 1946 at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, after clearing all the backlogs of mail. The women of Six Triple Eight exceeded all expectations and eliminated any misconceptions by delivering at a standard above what had been asked, regardless of their environment.
At least two of these incredible women are buried in the cemetery’s veteran section 43, Ms. Mary Priscilla Monroe and Ms. Frances Vernon Crews. Their names were listed in the New Pittsburgh Courier on February 24, 1945, among the “first contingent of Negro Wacs arrived in England” and the “first U.S. Army Postal Unit compromised entirely of women to be sent overseas.”
Ms. Mary Priscilla Monroe was born on March 10, 1899, in Pittsburgh. She enlisted on November 20, 1942, at the age of 43, after being a maid and general industrial clerk; she became an aviation cadet in the Women’s Army Corps. She was selected to serve in the Six Triple Eight Battalion from August 4, 1943 – December 7, 1945. Ms. Mary P. Monroe served her country and came home an unrecognized American patriot. She passed on October 28, 1974, at the age of 75, and is buried in Section 43, Lot 310.
Ms. Frances Vernon Crews was born in Alabama on August 9, 1915, and enlisted March 17, 1943, in New York City at 28 years old. She had previously been a servant and maid for a private family in New York. Both she and Ms. Monroe were single without dependents and had only one year of high school education when they enlisted. Frances Crews passed in the West Penn Hospital at the age of 74 on August 23, 1989. She is buried in Section 43, Lot 232-C.
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