(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . History Nugget: No Mail, Low Morale--the black women who became the best postal battalion of WW2 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-19 Mid-January, 1945—the Battle of the Bulge was coming to a close. Most of America’s attention was fixed on stories of the heroic stand by the 101st Airborne at Bastogne and the counteroffensive by Patton’s Army, as Germany’s last major offensive of the war ended in failure. Despite the victory, morale was sagging for many units that had been fighting almost continuously since Normandy, 6 months prior. A major issue was that the troops were receiving no mail from back home and the soldiers were pissed. Mail was viewed as a critical morale booster for the tired troops, and fixing the dysfunctional army postal system was a serious issue. But with so many thing vying for the Allied leadership’s time, it had been kept on the back burner for too long. Meanwhile, in Washington, another behind the scenes internal battle was coming to a head. 140,000 women volunteered for service and were accepted in the Women’s Corps during World War 2. An estimated 6500 of them were black. At a time when Plessy vs. Fergusson and the “separate but equal” judgment was the rule of law and Jim Crow ruled the South, Black women in military service were sharply and overtly discriminated against. Black women were separated from white women into their own racially segregated units, and were assigned the roles that white women least preferred—laundry, cooking, cleaning latrines and showers at US bases at home. Up until January 1945, no US Army Women’s Army Corps (WAC) had been deployed overseas, or had been given any role that was seen as “meaningful.” Throughout the war, organizations like the NAACP and CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) advocated for black women battalions to just be “given a chance.” They found powerful allies in Washington like First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and European Theater Commander Dwight Eisenhower, but were strongly opposed by most of the top brass of the US Army and the War Department. The advocacy finally bore fruit in the convergence of the two issues—the disastrous mess that had become the Army Postal system that needed fixing, and the loud advocacy for a black women’s battalion to be deployed overseas with meaningful responsibility. Major Charity Adams 1945 In Mid-January 1945, 26 year old Major Charity Adams received orders to board a C-54 cargo plane. Handed an envelope marked “Top Secret,” she received no information about where she was going, or what she would be doing and told to open the envelope only after the plane had taken off. Adams opened the envelope after the cargo plane took off, only to discover the papers simply stated she was en route to an undisclosed location in the British Isles, and she would be briefed on her mission upon arrival. Although Adams did not know what her mission would be, she did know that it was likely the role would be exceedingly difficult. Adams was aware that no black WAC unit had ever been deployed overseas, and Adams was very aware that she was the highest ranking black woman officer in the US army. Adams knew she was the first black woman commanding officer to be deployed overseas. Adams would later write that she was aware that her battalion would be under the tightest possible scrutiny. “The eyes of the public would be upon us, waiting for one slip in our conduct or performance,” and to be considered a success, the battalion would need to “be the best WAC unit ever sent into a foreign theater.” Upon arrival in Birmingham, the scale of the task she and her battalion had been assigned became clear: sort and dispatch 17 million packages and letters that had been stuffed into unmarked bags and thrown entirely unorganized into a warehouse. Adams was given a deadline of 6 months. Every parcel would be sorted and dispatched for delivery within 3. A few weeks after Adams’ arrival, the rest of the soldiers of her unit arrived—the newly christened “6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion” known as “Six Triple Eight.” Composed of 855 African-American women, neither Adams nor the women under her command had any experience with postal work, and were given virtually no useful guidance or instructions. The scale of their task became clearer as they began opening the postal bags—most of the mail had been addressed only by name and hometown, and the mail had been set aside because it lacked information about the recipient’s unit or identification number. For example, a package addressed to “Robert Smith” might have been intended for any of the over 7500 Robert Smiths deployed to the Western Front. Adams quickly drew up a plan for how this task would be approached. Adams recognized that using the Army registry, they could cross reference names to hometowns and next of kin information, to get a soldier’s military ID number. With an ID number, the postal battalion could identify the soldier’s unit affiliation and current location. Once the soldier’s location and unit were identified, the mail would be sorted into dispatches to the front, with proper unit affiliations added to the package. In an era without computers, this was a painstaking and time consuming process. Adams also recognized that cramming over 800 women into the cramped warehouse was less than ideal, and working the ordinary 8-5 M-F shift was not going to cut it to meet the deadline. Adams organized her battalion into 3 companies of women. Each unit would work a 10 to 12 hour shift with their hours staggered, so that no more than 2 companies would be working at any one time, reducing congestion in the mess hall or sleeping quarters. Generally, there were to be no holidays or weekends. The unit pushed forwards to work through the task 7 days a week at a grueling pace, taking only sporadic breaks. Living conditions were spartan and difficult. Birmingham had been subjected to German bombing during German air raids earlier in the war, resulting in a shortage of living space. The 6888th was given the lowest possible priority, thus lived in the same warehouses that they worked. Windows were covered with blackout lights, the walls allowed drafts to flow through, there was little in way of heating. The women lived and worked brutally long hours in the cold and the dark. And yet, the women of unit interviewed later are unanimous in agreement that unit morale was high. Adams had made sure everyone was aware of the importance of the task they had been given, and the unit motto “No Mail, Low Morale” became a rallying cry in difficult times. And they were also aware that among the black WAC units, they had been given a unique opportunity to prove themselves. But it was also Adams bravery in the face of discrimination that inspired the women of the Six Triple Eight. One famous story that was recounted by numerous women from the unit happened well into the sorting process of the mail, when 6888th was already recognized and commended for the speed and accuracy. They were, and would remain, by far the fastest and most accurate postal battalion in the US Army of WW2. A general (a white man who has remained unnamed) came to inspect the unit. Most of the unit was either designated to work a shift, or were in their cots for an assigned sleep shift. The few remaining soldiers not on assigned duty, along with Adams stood at attention to greet the general’s arrival. The general looked around and asked Adams “where are the rest of the girls?” to which Adams replied that her soldiers were on duty or assigned a sleep shift. She explained that disrupting the soldiers sleep shift was not possible, as it would impact their assigned duties the following day. The general demanded that Adams go wake the sleeping “girls” and make them stand at attention. Adams replied “I cannot do that, sir.” Now furious, the general yelled that he would go find a white lieutenant, so that Adams could be taught what real leadership looks like. Every witness to the incident recounts that Adams replied “over my dead body, sir.” The general yelled that he would have Adams court martialed for insubordination and left. Fortunately for Adams, the performance of the 6888th was well known, and the general was persuaded that it did the Army no good to court martial the best performing postal unit commander in the US Army, and Adams received no formal repercussions—and also became a legend among the soldiers of her unit. Another story that was frequently recounted by members of the 6888th happened when the soldiers finally received a weekend leave for the first time in two months. The unit was arranged to travel to London, where they would be able to enjoy themselves in the city. The Red Cross helped to organize these leave trips. Ordinarily, multiple battalions would be given leave at once, and several units of WACs would be housed together in various hotels. Formal racial segregation did not exist London, so Adams expected the 6888th would be housed in the same hotels as other WAC units. But Adams discovered that the Red Cross had arranged racially segregated hotel reservations. When Adams protested, she was told that they would be more comfortable with their “own people.” Furious, Adams assembled her soldiers, whereupon she told them what had happened. Adams told her troops that they can stay at the free Red Cross arranged hotel if they pleased, but she personally would not stay there. Adams made her own hotel arrangements at her own expense. Adams would later proudly recount how not a single woman from her unit stayed at the Red Cross hotel. Having finished sorting through the entire backlog of postal packages at Birmingham, the 6888th was dispatched to Arles, France, where a further several million unsorted packages greeted them. The 6888th would celebrate VE and later VP day here, before most of the unit was demobilized and sent home during December, 1945. Most non-combatant units that provided excellent service were recognized for their efforts. But despite being, objectively, the best postal battalion of the War, the 6888th went entirely unrecognized. Lena King, one of the last surviving members of the 6888th recounted that “We were never made to feel like anything we’d done was special. We never got a parade. We just went home to our families.” Charity Adams returned to the US with her unit, and received a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, the first black woman to hold that rank in 1946. Adams left the Army in Fall 1946 to continue her education at The Ohio State University, receiving her Masters degree in psychology. She would go on to work in Veterans Affairs, teach and serve as a college administrator at Tennessee A&I, and later become the dean of Georgia State College, before retiring in Dayton, Ohio. Adams would pass away at 82 in 2002. At the time of her passing, her family requested an honor guard from the Army for her funeral in recognition for her wartime service. The honor was refused, citing personnel deficiencies due to the War in Afghanistan. An Air Force general heard of the refusal by the Army to provide an honor guard for Adams’ funeral and ordered that an Air Force honor guard be dispatched. The move so embarrassed the Army that they reversed their decision and also sent an honor guard—making Adams one of the few people ever to be honored at their funeral with honor guards from multiple service branches. Belatedly, an Army review of racial injustices in commendations and honors finally found that the 6888th was discriminated against in 2019, leading to a ceremony with the five surviving members of the battalion as the unit was awarded with the “Meritorious Unit Commendation.” Adams has also been belatedly and posthumously begun to be recognized for her leadership and bravery. A statue honoring the 6888th and Charity Adams was created at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where the unit trained. On April 27th, 2023, Fort Lee (named for Robert E. Lee) will be renamed Fort Gregg-Adams. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/19/2162638/-History-Nugget-No-Mail-Low-Morale-the-black-women-who-became-the-best-postal-battalion-of-WW2 Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/