LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — The first and only Woman Army Corps (WAC) unit of color to deploy overseas during World War II are being hailed as "unsung heroes."
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion were highlighted in a recent Tyler Perry movie.
The battalion, nicknamed "The Six Triple Eight," had a critical mission — to redistribute and sort around 17 million pieces of mail for the European Theater of Operations.
Through historical records and newspapers, researchers believe there was a 2-3 year backlog of mail.
Retired Navy Commander Carlton Philpot has been researching the women long before the movie debut.
He also had a brief conversation with Tyler Perry during the creation of the film.
"I found an article in February 1945, they made 30,000 address changes a day," Philpot said. "These ladies were special."
Philpot is affiliated with the Richard Allen Cultural Center based in Leavenworth and developed a close relationship with some of the surviving Six Triple Eight members.
He said it's noteworthy that none of the women had a dishonorable discharge.
The retired commander said through the years, it has been a challenge to get accurate information about their mission.
"In telling the story, were they just focused on the mail," Philpot said. "They had to do all that and deal with the surrounding area of discrimination. They expected them to fail. Six months — they did it in three, about 90 days."
If the battalion members read a letter with bad news, Philpot said they would pray over the letter before redistribution.
Five of the surviving members visited a monument built and dedicated to them in 2018 at Fort Leavenworth's Buffalo Soldier Military Park.
They have more than 800 of the battalion members' names listed. They are planning to add more.
The unit was predominantly Black, but also included women of Hispanic descent.
After the monument dedication, the center arranged for some of the surviving members to have a group talk with students in their after-school program.
"The questions the kids asked, you know, were you afraid to leave home? What kind of food did you have? Did you sleep in a good bed? To hear the ladies come back and answer and all these ladies were in their 90s," said Edna Wagner, executive director for the center.
Joana Scholtz, an army veteran, feels a personal connection to the Six Triple Eight's experiences.
"They set the stage for us. They were in the WAC, but they still had to go through Jim Crow and Jane Crow. And here I was, I got commissioned in 1979, still had to go through Jim Crow and Jane Crow," Scholtz, a board member at the Richard Allen Cultural Center, said.
Eighty years have passed since the Six Triple Eight's mission ended.
Researchers in Leavenworth are still discovering new information.
"We as a people must not only write what will be read," Philpot said. "We must write what will be read and too often, what's written about us is written with invisible pens."
Some people wonder, why did it take so long for their story to be shared?
After members of the cultural center did a Six Triple Eight tour in Europe, family members said the women were instructed not to discuss their mission when they returned home.
"What I say to people is, don't depend on the school to tell us our history," Scholtz said. "We have to tell our kids our history."
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KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson covers portions of Johnson County, including Overland Park, Prairie Village and Leawood. Share your story idea with Alyssa.