Members of the 6888th Battalion, honored by the Biden administration. Photo: AP
Millions of letters and parcels Troops sent to the United States had been stored in warehouses in Europe as Allied troops advanced into the heart of Hitler’s Germany towards the end of World War II.
It wasn’t spam: it was the main link between the house and the front in a time long before video chats, text messages, or even routine long distance phone calls.
The task of eliminating the huge backlog in a still racially segregated army rested with the largest group of women (all black) who served in the war. the 6888th battalion of the central postal directory. This Tuesday, the tribute was for the unit’s oldest surviving member: Romay Davis, 102.
Romay Davis, 102 years old. Photo: AP
Davis will be recognized for her service at an event at Montgomery City Hall. The act follows President Joe Biden’s decision in March to sign a bill authorizing the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to unity, dubbed “Six Triple Eight.”
Davis, in an interview at his home Monday, said the unit deserved recognition and is happy to participate on behalf of other members who they are already dead.
“I think it’s an exciting event, and it’s something families need to remember,” Davis said. “It’s not mine, only mine. No. It belongs to everyone“.
The actual medals won’t be ready for a few months, but officials have decided to move on with events for Davis and five other surviving members of the 6888th given their advanced age.
After her five siblings, Davis joined the Army in 1943. After the war, the Virginia native married, had a 30-year career in the fashion industry in New York, and retired to Alabama.
had black belt in martial arts when he was 70 and returned to work to work in a Montgomery grocery store for more than two decades, until the age of 101.
Romay Davis earned a martial arts black belt when he was 70. Photo: AP
Although smaller groups of African American nurses served in Africa, Australia and England, none matched the size or the power of the 6888th, according to the history of unity compiled by the Pentagon.
Davis’ unit was part of the Women’s Army Corps created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943. With racial separation as time practiceThe corps added African American units the following year at the urging of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune, according to the unit’s story.
Racism and sexism
More than 800 black women made up the 6888thwho began sailing for England in February 1945. Once there, they met not only mountains of undelivered lettersbut also with racism and sexism.
According to the story, refused entry to a Red Cross club American and hotel, and a senior officer was threatened with being replaced by a white first lieutenant when unit members missed an inspection.
More than 800 black women made up the 6888th. Photo: AP
“On my body, sir,” replied the unit commander, Major Charity Adams. He was not replaced.
Work under the motto “If there is no post, lower morale”women served 24/7 in shifts and developed a new tracking system which processed around 65,000 shipments per shift, which allowed them to eliminate a delay of six months by post in just three months.
“It took a while to get used to, so to speak, doing what needed to be done,” said Davis, who has worked primarily as a fleet pilot. “The post office situation was so horrible that they didn’t think the girls could do it. But they proved them right.”
A month after the war in Europe ended, in June 1945, the group sailed for France to begin work on additional stacks of mail from that country.
After receiving better treatment by the freed French than they would have received at home under Jim Crow’s racist regimes, members were celebrated at a victory parade in Rouen and invited to dinner in private homes, Davis said.
“I have not found any Europeans against us. They were happy to have us“, She said.
Members of the 6888th Battalion in full swing. Photo: AP
The 6888th was previously honored with a dedicated monument in 2018 at the Buffalo Soldier Military Park in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. But soon after the war, the members returned home to an American society that was immobile years away since the beginning of the modern civil rights movement with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955.
United States Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas helped promote the bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to members of the unit.
“Even though the odds were against them, the women of the Six Triple Eights processed millions of letters and parcels during their deployment to Europe, helping to connect WWII soldiers with loved ones back home, like my father and mother, ”Moran said in a statement earlier this year.
By Jay Reeves, member of the Associated Press Race and Ethnicity Team
ap
Source: Clarin
