All-Black Female WWII Battalion Will Receive Congressional Gold Medal

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March 16, 2022

By Deena Zaru, ABC News

“They never got a salute,” a daughter of one of the women said.

President Biden signed a bill that awarded the 88th Central Postal Directory Battalion a Congressional Gold Medal for their efforts in WWII. — Members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion participate in a parade ceremony in honor of Joan d’Arc at the marketplace where she was burned at stake in 1945. (Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images)

The only all-Black, all-female battalion to serve in World War II in the U.S. and in Europe is set to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal after President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan bill on Monday.

The bill, which was co-sponsored by the entire New Hampshire delegation, seeks to honor the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the “Six Triple Eight” — a group of Black women who raised the morale of millions by sorting and routing mail for American service members and civilians in Europe and the United States.

ABC News has reached out to the White House but it is unclear when the ceremony will take place.

“We helped each other. We worked with each other,” retired Maj. Fanny Griffin McClendon, who served as a supervisor in the battalion, told ABC News last month after the Senate passed the bill, which has now been signed into law by Biden.

More about this recognition and the women who earned it.

Black soldiers also helped supply the front lines during World War II and turn the tide in the Civil War.

More breaking news about black history.

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