Was the Six Triple Eight Real? All About the History-Making Army Unit Depicted in Netflix’s New Movie

Tyler Perry is spotlighting a lesser-known piece of World War II history in his new Netflix film, The Six Triple Eight.

Based on a WWII History Magazine article by Kevin M. Hymel, the film, out Dec. 20, was written and produced by Perry and stars Kerry Washington as Lt. Col. Charity Adams. She was the commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only unit made up of Black women in the Women’s Army Corps sent to Europe during World War II.

The Six Triple Eight, as the battalion was nicknamed, was tasked with sorting through 17 million pieces of undelivered mail in Europe and ensuring it was delivered to U.S. soldiers. At the time, letters were the only way for soldiers to communicate with their families, and the 6888th’s motto became “no mail, low morale.”

Though they were given six months to complete their task, the battalion sorted the parcels in half that time —just 90 days. The 855 women in the unit “wanted to fight for her country and wanted to be of service,” Perry told PEOPLE in 2024.

“These women were incredibly important to the war efforts toward the winding down of the war,” he said. “It’s important that these types of stories have their voice and their place, because so many of us are trying to erase and write out the history of the contributions of certain people.”

In addition to Washington, the ensemble cast includes Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, Kylie Jefferson, Sarah Jeffery, Susan Sarandon, Dean Norris, Sam Waterson and Oprah Winfrey, among others.

Here is everything to know about the real events that inspired the Tyler Perry film The Six Triple Eight.

What was the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion?

During World War II, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion — nicknamed the Six Triple Eight — was the first and only unit of color in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) stationed in Europe.

The battalion was led by Charity Adams, the first Black woman to be commissioned into the WAC. She received her mission order to deploy to Europe in late 1944, and the 6888th’s 855 members were deployed overseas in February 1945.

The unit was an important link connecting American soldiers and their families back home.

“Ladies, we have been ordered to provide hope,” Washington says as Adams in The Six Triple Eight. “The soldiers have not heard from their loved ones, and their loved ones have not heard from them.”

Who was Lt. Col. Charity Adams?

Kerry Washington portrays Lt. Col. Charity Adams in the Netflix film.

The real-life leader was born in Kittrell, N.C., on Dec. 5, 1918, and raised in Columbia, S.C. She was valedictorian of Booker T. Washington High School and attended Wilberforce University in Ohio, where she majored in mathematics, Latin and physics.

She taught math and science in Columbia before joining the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) in 1942 (“auxiliary” was later removed from the title). She attended the first-ever African American Officer Candidate School at Fort Des Moines in Iowa and was promoted to major in 1943, becoming the highest-ranking female officer. She then led the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion on their European mission in 1945.

Adams married Stanley A. Earley Jr. in 1949, and the couple had two children, son Stanley Earley III and daughter Judith Earley. She died at age 83 on Jan. 13, 2002.

Who was Corporal Lena Derriecott King?

In the Netflix film, Corporal Lena Derriecott King is portrayed by Ebony Obsidian.

Born on Jan. 27, 1923, in Washington, Ga., King was an only child. After her parents divorced, she lived with her mother and aunt in Philadelphia, where she graduated from Germantown High School. She enlisted in the Army Air Force at 18 and started active-duty service in 1943.

King’s first assignment was as a nurse at Douglas Army Airfield in Arizona, where she met her husband, Hugh Thadius Bell, at the post exchange. Soon after, she signed up for overseas duty and became one of the 855 women in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion.

While researching his film, Perry made it his mission to meet with the living members of the Six Triple Eight. While visiting King, then 99, at her home in Las Vegas, he found his approach to crafting The Six Triple Eight.

“After one few-hour session with her I had a whole script in my head,” he told PEOPLE.

King died on Jan. 18, 2024, at the age of 100. Obsidian was honored to spend the day with her real-life counterpart in Vegas on King’s 100th birthday.

What was the Six Triple Eight’s main task?

En route to Europe, Adams learned she would lead an all-Black, all-female unit and what their mission was: to sort through a two-year backlog of 17 million pieces of undelivered mail to U.S. soldiers.

After arriving in Scotland on Feb. 12, 1945, the battalion was deployed to England, where the mail was located in stuffed-to-the-brim warehouses in Birmingham. On March 12, the women officially became the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Their task was to get the parcels organized, redirected and delivered in six months.

“They did not send us because they thought we could do it,” Washington says as Adams in the film. “We are here because they are sure we cannot.”

The 6888th’s motto was “no mail, low morale,” and Perry told PEOPLE that reflected their mission to bring “communications to exhausted soldiers of every race of our country who were fighting.”

CPL King knew their job was important.

“One thing people in the service looked forward to was mail, knowing somebody was still thinking about them,” she told WWII History Magazine in 2019. “In the military, mail call (when soldiers gathered around a designated mailman as he called out their names for letters or packages) is a very important time.”

How long did the Six Triple Eight’s mission take?

The women of the Six Triple Eight far exceeded expectations, completing their mission in 90 days despite being given twice that amount to get the job done. They then moved on to Rouen, France, working out of a French monastery.

“That was men’s war. Women did not belong. But I’ll tell you something, there was a group of women that were brave,” 6888th member and veteran Cresencia Garcia told History Channel’s HistoryTalks in 2023. “I am proud of what I did. And I belong.”

How did Lt. Col. Charity Adams lead the Six Triple Eight?

Adams was a clear leader with a plan who led with the 6888’s motto, “no mail, low morale.” She set up a system for the women to work around the clock in three eight-hour shifts, seven days a week.

In her 1989 autobiography, One Woman’s Army: A Black Officer Remembers the WAC, Adams estimated that her crew handled about 65,000 pieces of mail each shift.

“It was long and tiring … we had mail almost stacked to the ceiling,” Elizabeth Bernice Barker Johnson told the America’s Veteran Center in 2018.

Barker Johnson explained that they had lists with recipients’ new addresses on them and any old addresses listed on the backlogged mail had to be changed to the new one. King told WWII History Magazine that readdressing letters “took a lot of work. It kept you really busy, on your toes.”

After her unit’s success, Adams was promoted to lieutenant colonel. At age 27, she became the highest-ranked Black woman in the United States Army. The Six Triple Eight also opened doors for future Black women in the armed forces.

Adams received many honors during her lifetime and after, including an elementary school in Dayton being named after her. In April 2023, she became the first Black woman in U.S. history to have an Army fort named in her honor. Formerly known as Fort Lee, the Virginia fort now honors Adams and retired Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Gregg, the Army’s first Black three-star general.

During a 2023 Zoom call, Romay Davis Robinson, Adams’ motor pool driver in the 6888th, said that Adams “was herself. Her disposition was leadership.”

What challenges did the Six Triple Eight face?

While overseas, the unit faced many obstacles, including racism, sexism, cultural differences and logistical issues.

The unit was put in segregated housing in the former King Edwards Boys School, and the women used their ingenuity to create their own amenities like a food hall and hair salon.

When Adams boycotted the segregated living quarters and facilities and was faced with racial slurs from the general who commanded the battalion, her unit supported her. The film includes a real-life moment when Adams stood up to the general and said, “Over my dead body.”

As for the mail, not only was there the sheer volume to contend with, but some of the parcels had become moldy or eaten by vermin, while others had illegible addresses. The women had to sort through it all in unheated, rat-infested warehouses with poor lighting, as the windows were darkened to protect them from German raids.

Then there was the toll of the war itself, with bombs and rockets showering England and bombers and fighter aircrafts lining the skies.

“It was hard, blackout conditions. We had poor lighting, poor heating. We couldn’t let the sunlight in because they were still fighting and bombing in that area,” King told CNN in 2023.

The corporal added that Birmingham residents treated the battalion like heroes, which was not the same welcome they received from many of the White American servicemen. She recalled a time when a dance was thrown and a White soldier came in and used a racial slur while asking her why she was there.

“That was very devastating and very painful to see that the same countrymen that you’re fighting the same war for was the one who disrespected me the most,” King said.

What happened to the members of the Six Triple Eight?

Adams resigned the year after the 6888th mission was complete and earned her master’s degree from Ohio State University. She began work as a registration officer with the Veterans Administration in Cleveland, before working at colleges in Tennessee and Georgia.

Later in life, she served on the boards of the American Red Cross, Sinclair Community College and the Dayton Power and Light Company. Adams also volunteered with the YWCA, National Urban League and United Way and founded Dayton’s Black Leadership Development Group in 1982.

Like Adams, several of the women worked for government agencies after returning home from Europe. Abbe Campbell was a nutritionist at the Tuskegee VA Medical Center in Alabama, Anna Tarryk worked for the VA’s Insurance Division and Evelina Rachel Griffin spent her entire career with the VA.

Many of the women also took advantage of the G.I. Bill, which provided some of the returning WWII soldiers with education benefits. Barker Johnson joined the WAC in 1943 and, after serving, returned to school and later became a teacher. She died in August 2019 at 100.

King died in early 2024 but did see a rough cut of Perry’s film — and he told PEOPLE that she gave it her approval. She even saluted the actresses on-screen.

“It was a beautiful moment,” Perry said.

There are only four women out of over 9,000 Americans buried at Colleville-sur-Mer Normandy American Cemetery in France, and three of them are from the 6888th. Fourteen members of the battalion are interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Only two members of the Six Triple Eight were alive as of December 2024 — Fannie McClendon and Anna Mae Robertson.

How has the Six Triple Eight been honored?

It took decades, but the women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion have begun to get the recognition they deserve.

In 2016, the Six Triple Eight was inducted into the Army Women’s Foundation’s Hall of Fame, and the Army awarded the battalion with the Meritorious Unit Commendation in 2019. On Nov. 30, 2018, the unit had a monument dedicated to them at Fort Leavenworth.

Four years later, the U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously to honor all 855 members of the Six Triple Eight with the Congressional Gold Medal.

In 2019, King, along with the other 6888th surviving members, received the Audie Murphy Award during the American Valor Awards ceremony, and she was an Honor Role Awardee at the World War II National Museum in New Orleans.

Tribute has also been paid to the battalion in the entertainment world. In addition to Perry’s 2024 Netflix film, they’ve been immortalized in a musical, Six Triple Eight, a 2024 historical novel by Sheila Williams called No Better Time and many nonfiction books.