Veterans’ Day Program Will Honor WWII Black Women’s Unit

SMITHFIELD

A Veteran’s Day Celebration will honor the women soldiers of World War II who were assigned to the all-Black 6888th  Central Postal Directory Battalion. It will take place on Sunday, November 10, 2019 from 3-6 p.m. at the Smithfield Center.

The event will pay tribute to the Life, History, and Legacy of LTC Charity Adams-Early, the first African-American woman to be commissioned in the United States Army in WWII, and the other women soldiers who were assigned to the 6888th  Central Postal Directory Battalion. 

Major Charity Adams-Early was among the first Officer Training Candidates in Class at Fort Des Moines, Iowa.   In 1942, Charity Adams-Early entered an Army segregated by both race and gender.  Her book entitled “One Woman’s Army” describes in candid detail how she and a group of committed African-American women “rode point” in the battle to serve their country in WWII. 

Major Adams-Early, the first Black officer commissioned in what was then the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, held a position subject to scrutiny from both American and Allied forces.  Promoted to Major, she commanded the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in Europe (France and England), the only unit of Black women to serve overseas during World War II. 

Their mission was to organize and deliver millions of pieces of mail and packages that were held up for months in silos in France and England.  These packages and letters were intended to be delivered to the men who were fighting on the front lines in WWII.   Due to the serious morale problems with the male soldiers who were not able to hear from their families, Major Adams-Early and her soldiers were ordered to disperse millions of pieces of mail in 6 months.  She was responsible for organizing all aspects of the mail delivery process to make sure the mail was delivered, and if the soldier was deceased, they had to locate the family to return the mail. 

It was quite a journey for these women soldiers, but they succeeded by getting the job done in 3 months, by creating different shifts to work around the clock. 

The program is being presented by Providential Credit Care Management, Inc (PCCMI),  Barbara P. Wiggins, CEO/Executive Director. For more information, call (757) 357-1763/356-0591 or e-mails: pccminc@aol.com or vennih@aol.com,