As far as recorded history, the first time American women fought in a war was during the American Civil War. Women were not allowed to be selected into the draft, so they disguised themselves as men and fought instead. A few of them were only discovered to be women when found dead.

American women were only allowed to serve in the army during the First World War. Many of the women were nurses and staff who cooked and catered for injured soldiers. But many of these women were white Americans as at the time slavery and racism prevented Black women from giving their services to America.

The success of the formation of the all Black female battalion was thanks to Mary McLeod Bethune, an African American civil rights activist who at the time, appealed to the then-first lady of America, Eleanor Roosevelt, to create more meaningful roles for Black women in the army to help balance out the shortage of soldiers. Bethune’s appeal gained the attention of the first lady who then helped the military create a space for an all-Black female group to work in the war in Europe.

Women were recruited and trained until May 1942 when the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps was formed, and women of all races were allowed to serve in the war officially. Soon after, in July 1942, through their hard work and dedication, women were given full benefits in the military, and the word “auxiliary” was removed from their name. The Corps became known as the Women’s Army Corps. The military trained women of all races in all divisions and sections of the army in preparation for war.

In 1945, history was made when the first all-Black female battalion in the world was sent from the U.S. to serve in parts of Europe during the Second World War. Known as the 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion, the all Black female battalion of the Women’s Army Corps were sent to parts of France and England to contribute to solving problems that the Second World War brought with it.

With the main task of clearing several years of abandoned and backlogged mail in Europe, The 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion were trained and sent off to help with managing the postal service in Europe.

They set off for Europe on February 3, 1945, and arrived in France on February 14 where they were quickly taken to Birmingham, England.

The battalion sent to Europe was made up of 855 women who served under the command of Major Charity Williams. Their motto was no mail, no morale and they were popularly known as the six triple eight.

Between 1945 to 1946, the majority of the women worked under the mail service while others served as cooks, mechanics, nurse assistants and other roles as and when necessary. They worked under dangerous and risky conditions in abandoned and infested aircraft and offices throughout the war.

For their hard work, they were honored with the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal and the World War II Victory Medal whiles they were still offering service.

Photo is part of story about Obituary: Millie Dunn Veasey, pioneering sergeant turned rights activist
By Roland Hughes - BBC News - 18 March 2018
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LT. Col. Charity Edna Adams Earley 1918-2002

In 1944 Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley served as the highest-ranking Black woman officer during World War II. She paved the way for other Black women in the military. She was chosen to be the commanding officer of the first unit of WAC African Americans to go overseas. Earley led The Six Triple Eight-the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion.

The American Army story cannot be told without reflecting on the courage, strength and legacy of Black Americans who helped shape the world we live in today. Black Americans have served and sacrificed in every conflict in our nation’s history, with more than 245 years of honorable service.

Earley's father, Rev. Eugene Avery Adams, Sr. had attended and graduated from Johnson C. Smith College in Charlotte, North Carolina. He began his career as a pastor in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and later held pastorates in Clinton and Columbia, South Carolina. While serving in Clinton he founded Bell Street High School.

He later served as dean of Kittrell College in Kittrell N.C. and as Dean of Dickerson Theological Seminary of Allen University. While he was working and living in Kittrell, Earley was born in Kittrell, North Carolina, on Dec. 5, 1918. Her parents had four children: Edna, Eugene Avery Jr, Lucy Rose and John Hurst.

Earley was raised by her father, a minister, and her mother, Charity A. Nash who was a former teacher.
She was very intellectually gifted, she passed the test for early advancement to high school once she completed elementary school. However, her parents did not let her since she was already a few years ahead of her classmates.

Earley later graduated as valedictorian from Booker T. Washington High School and attended Wilberforce University of Ohio, one of the best African American universities at the time, thanks to a scholarship she received for graduating top of her class in high school.

She became very active in school groups, participating in the university’s branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Women’s Self-Government Association and the Greek sorority, Delta Sigma Theta. Earley graduated from Wilberforce University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1938, with majors in Latin, physics and mathematics. She minored in history, while also taking classes in education so that she could start teaching after graduation.

From 1938 to 1942, she taught math and science at a junior high school in South Carolina, and took summer graduate courses at Ohio State University (OSU) pursuing a major in vocational psychology. As the United States joined World War II, an expansion of the U.S. military became necessary. The Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, later known as Women’s Army Corps (WAC), was created, and Earley applied to and was accepted in the organization in 1942.

She became a member of the first officer candidate school and was commissioned in August 1942 at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, where she stayed until 1944 and worked as a staff training officer, a station control officer and a company commander. Racism and segregation was alive and enforced in the American military. There were many times that Earley and the other Black women soldiers had to work within demeaning and horrific treatment by white American men and women soldiers.

In 1943, she was promoted to major, and by the end of 1944, she became the commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Nicknamed the “Six Triple Eight”, the battalion was the first unit of WAC African Americans to go overseas. Her battalion’s first mission in Birmingham, England, was to organize and distribute undelivered mail to U.S. service members. The battalion started working around the clock in three shifts, seven days a week, clearing all the backlogged mail from the previous six months in only three months.

Earley’s battalion later moved to the postal facilities of Rouen, France, where once again, they were tasked with organizing mail that had gone undelivered, up to 65,000 pieces of mail per day. By the end of WWII, the 6888th CPDB had cleared over 17 million pieces of backlogged mail, ensuring the troops stayed in touch with their loved ones back home. This played a huge role in boosting morale.

Earley was promoted to lieutenant colonel in December 1945 for her amazing work in the WAC – the highest possible rank for a Soldier in the WAC. In March 1946, she requested to be discharged from active duty and was presented by the National Council of Negro Women Inc. with a scroll of honor for distinguished service to the military.

The same year, Earley completed her Master of Arts at OSU and started working at the Veterans Administration in Cleveland, Ohio, as a registration officer. She married Stanley A. Earley Jr. in 1949 and moved with him to Zurich, Switzerland, where she attended the Minerva Institute to master the German language. Later, Earley attend courses at the University of Zurich.

Upon her return to the United States in 1952, she devoted the rest of her life to activism and education, serving as a dean at Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State College (now Tennessee State University), Georgia State University and many other organization boards.

In 1982, she founded the Black Leadership Development Program (BLDP) in Dayton, Ohio, to help educate and train Black Americans to be leaders in their communities. Earley died in 2002 at the age of 83 in Dayton. Her name was recently selected by the Army as part of the Naming Commission recommendations, as part of the Army’s effort to rename installations previously named after Confederate officers.

Many organizations, to include the National Postal Museum, the National Women’s History Museum, Ohio Women’s Hall of Fame, the Smithsonian Institute and the South Carolina Black Hall of Fame, have recognized her contributions and dedication to promote opportunities for Black Americans.

Sources: Find A Grave; By Linda Lambiotte / Army Mil Article- USAG Rheinland-Pfalz Public AffairsFebruary 13, 2023