Throughout history, the crucial role female operatives played in war efforts remained mostly understated and ignored in favor of glorifying the combat records of their male counterparts. But the situation is even more dire when it comes to women of color, who were doubly marginalized—for both their race and their gender. Tyler Perry’s period war drama, The Six Triple Eight, streaming on Netflix, brings the struggle of the women of color in the armed forces to light by chronicling the real-life heroics of all Black female operatives in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion of the United States Army during the Second World War. While tackling prejudice, racial discrimination, and sexism—which were still very much prevalent in the then-military—the unit was able to achieve historic success in boosting the morale of the army through connecting field combatants with their loved ones by clearing a massive mail backlog. In doing so, they left an enduring legacy that became a testament to their bravery, ingenuity, and resilience—which The Six Triple Eight presents with an emotional undertone. However, some of the minor drawbacks, like dialogue that appears quite on the nose and the occasional cheesy treatment of serious themes, might feel distracting to viewers. But that’s not really a deal breaker, especially when strong acting performances by the cast are taken into consideration.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Lena Decide to Join the Army?
The Six Triple Eight opens in Italy in 1943, in the midst of the “Battle of San Pietro,” where Abram David, a young combat pilot of the United States military, crash-lands and succumbs to his injuries. Before breathing his last, David entrusts a letter addressed to his beloved Lena to his comrade, and it is one among millions of letters that remain stashed in an army repository. Lack of manpower has resulted in the army postal service coming to a standstill, and unheard voices of combatants and their families have created a concerning disconnect over time, which is affecting the morale of the soldiers.
In a flashback sequence, the loving relationship between Lena and David is showcased, which faced occasional hindrances due to existing prejudice against interracial couples. Lena’s guardians—her mother, Emma, and her aunt, Susie—were concerned about her future as they didn’t have enough funds to support her academics, and Emma was somewhat skeptical of her daughter’s relationship with a White Jewish boy belonging to an affluent family. Lena was subjected to racial persecution as well, which made it difficult for her to acknowledge her feelings for David. However, David, who was being posted at the Western Front after joining the army, professed his love for Lena and promised to marry her upon his return. Lena waited for him with bated breath, as all her letters sent to David remained unanswered, until one day she eventually became aware of the tragic news of David’s passing. Crestfallen, Lena decided to join the army with a broken heart, as she couldn’t find closure following her lover’s passing, and in a way, it was a gesture to honor his memory as well. The war had taken David away from her, and to cope with the grief of his absence, taking part in the war effort became Lena’s emotional outlet. Even though Emma and Susie initially didn’t approve of her decision, they agreed later on, their primary concern was how women of color remained constrained in domestic, menial vocations; Lena would not have to leave the country to engage in active field duty.
Lena, on the other hand, became aware of how discrimination was even more present in the forces, as not only were women of color automatically pushed to the sidelines, with even high-ranking black female officials facing racist jeering from white subordinates, but they were segregated from white female members of the force as well. Lena’s comrades of the 6888th battalion, who later shared a bond of friendship with her, Johnnie Mae, Bernice Baker, Elaine White, and Dolores Washington, came from different walks of life and had differing motivations guiding them to join the war effort—but the eagerness to prove themselves became a common factor in them the more they learned how women of color were persecuted army.
How Did 6888 Battalion Prove Their True Worth?
A strong-willed, indomitable Major Charity Adams was in charge of the 6888th Battalion of the Women’s Army Corps, an all-Black female unit of which Lena, too, was a part—and she made sure that her unit adopted a strong outlook, went through a rigorous, strict training regimen, and stayed prepared to tackle whatever challenge they might face. Adams was quite aware of how White men in power would continue to look down upon them, deeming Black women unworthy to shoulder meaningful responsibilities and refuse to consider them equal. Which is why she trained her unit harder than usual, pushing them to their limit to prepare them to go through the uphill journey against their sexist, racist comrades. Taking on the enemy is not even the primary concern when identity is at stake within one’s home front.
The situation changed when the then First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, became aware of the mail crisis situation after being approached by a mother who shared her plight of not knowing about her sons who were deployed abroad during the war. Eleanor had realized that, as a direct effect of the lack of communication with their families, the soldiers would inevitably feel dejected, which could affect their mindset on the battlefield as well. The legendary educator and philanthropist, Mary McLeod Bethune, who was a pioneering figure in education efforts made for Black women, was aware of Major Adams’ reputation as a stalwart leader, and as a close acquaintance of the First Lady, she had advised Eleanor to entrust Adams and her troop to handle the mail crisis. General Halt opposed the idea of assigning the duty, which by his own admission was a logistical nightmare, to the Black female unit, as he deemed them incompetent, but Miss Bethune strongly vouched for Adams and her unit, which prompted President Roosevelt to approve her proposal.
Major Adams was pleasantly surprised after learning that her unit was to travel to Europe to take on a newly assigned mission, but eventually, upon learning the ground reality, the discriminatory attitude of her superiors became quite perceptible to her. Her unit traveled to Glasgow in a civilian ship, with no military protection accorded, and King Edward’s School, where her unit was to be stationed for the next six months, was a dilapidated mess with no proper accommodations provided to tackle the harsh European winter. The unit had to march to their station as even a military vehicle was not provided to the 6888th by Halt and co. To top it all off, the 6888th Battalion had to sort through several million letters within the span of six months, an inhuman task that was deemed impossible as formerly a number of units had miserably failed. Halt and his underlings were desperate to undermine Adams and to ensure that they failed as well; they actively tried to sabotage their mission. However, their malicious intentions were thwarted by the iron determination of Adams, who proved her leadership skills by opting for new, unique methods to sort letters that were impossible to categorize. Using perfume scent match, fabric match, and background search, the unit was able to identify the sender and recipients of numerous letters that were thus far considered to be untraceable.
Did Lena find closure at the end?
One of the on-field soldiers stationed in Glasgow, Hugh, had fallen for Lena and even called off his marriage as he considered Lena to be his soulmate. However, Lena was too wracked with pain and grief over losing David and couldn’t bring herself to turn a new page in her life. However, on one occasion while sorting the letters, Johnnie Mae stumbled upon the last letter written by David, addressed to Lena. Receiving what essentially was the last memorabilia of the person she loved, Lena was overwhelmed by agony, and her comrades were by her side to support her. Upon learning about the situation, Major Adams became more sanguine than ever about the gravity of their mission—acting as the messenger between the combatants and their families was no less important than taking and saving lives on the battlefield. On one occasion, Lena helped Adams to trace a huge amount of letters by discovering a pattern in the hidden location direction provided in the letters.
Two soldiers of the unit were killed in a mine explosion while delivering mail, but Halt and co. refused to offer them a proper burial, which was the worst form of disrespect. Adams ensured that the departed members of 6888 received the honor they deserved by collecting funds from each of the members to organize a proper burial, and in the graveyard, she encouraged Lena to look for David’s resting place, which was present among the numerous graves of the fallen soldiers who lost their lives on the western frontier. Lena mustered her courage to open David’s final letter after reaching his resting place and learned that realizing he might not make it to the States after all, David had wanted her to live a good life, to move on, and to find her happiness. This provided a much-needed cathartic release for Lena, and as it is revealed in the epilogue of the movie, she accepted Hugh’s proposal later on and married him.
Did Major Adams and Her Unit Receive Their Due Respect?
During an inspection, General Halt became overly critical of Major Adams and her unit upon learning that they sometimes needed to read letters of soldiers to assure better traceability, and he threatened her with shutting the entire unit down, using his connection with Truman, who has become President of the States after Roosevelt’s demise. In reality, it was merely an excuse by Halt, as he became livid after realizing that even with terrible conditions and stipulations piled up against them, the 6888th battalion was going to achieve the impossible by sorting millions of letters in record time and had a much stronger sense of fraternity among them. This time, Adams couldn’t tolerate the insults directed towards her unit and lashed out at Halt in the presence of her troop and other army officials.
Adams came to regret her actions later on, as she considered the possibility Halt would have her court martialed for insubordination. But her team was extremely appreciative towards her, as they cheered their leader for standing up for them. Halt began his efforts to see Adams court-martialled, but even he had to accept what a brilliant job her unit has performed after he witnessed how ecstatic soldiers became being able to reconnect with their loved ones, all thanks to 6888 battalion shouldering the monumental task and remarkably succeeding in it.
In The Six Triple Eight’s ending, Halt let his personal vendetta and prejudice go, and Adams was cheered even by the racist officials who opposed and undermined her previously. As the movie comes to an end, it is revealed in an epilogue section that the unit went to different cities across Europe to solve the mail crisis and proved their mettle by acing their job. However, back in the States, the all-Black female unit didn’t receive their due recognition, and their efforts remained unnoticed until recently, when some of the members, including Lena, received a Congressional medal that honored their accomplishments. The army headquarters of Fort Lee was renamed as Fort Gregg-Adams, honoring Lieutenant Colonel Charity Adams for her achievements, and she remains the only African American woman to receive such recognition to date.
