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By Frances “Toni” Draper, AFRO Writer
On March 15, I had the distinct honor of testifying in favor of Maryland Home Invoice 0370, sponsored by Delegate Mike Rogers (D- Anne Arundel County) and others. The invoice, if handed and signed, would require Maryland’s governor “yearly to proclaim March 9 as 6888th Central Postal Listing Battalion Day.”
At the moment, Maryland has 16 official commemorative days, seven months and one week which might be acknowledged in State legislation together with Black Historical past Month, Girls’s Historical past Month, Negro Baseball League Day, Thurgood Marshall Day and Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day.
Testifying together with Delegate Rogers and me, had been Janice Martin (daughter of 6888th member Indiana Hunt-Martin for whom a put up workplace in Buffalo, N.Y. was not too long ago named) and Col. (Ret.) Edna Cummings.
I might go on and on in regards to the 6888th and their superb service to the US, particularly throughout a time when Black ladies had been marginalized and ignored. I might spend hours writing about these 855 predominantly Black ladies who had been stationed in Europe working three 24-hour shifts, seven days per week to type 18 million letters addressed to U.S. troops scattered throughout Europe throughout World Struggle II.
I might write in regards to the three 6888th members who died there and had been buried in Normandy in coffins made by French prisoners. I might write in regards to the current honors, their commanders Main Charity Adams Earley (the primary Black lady to be an officer within the Girls’s Military Auxiliary Corps (later known as WACS), Captains Mary F. Kearney and Bernice G. Henderson.
I might shout out the title of my aunt PFC Vashti Murphy Matthews who was a member of the 6888th –though I by no means heard her speak about her time within the Military– and I might actually level out that if it hadn’t been for the AFRO’s intensive protection (1945-1946) of those courageous troopers, the names and hometowns of many wouldn’t be recognized right now.
As a result of tireless efforts of Col. (US Military Ret.) Edna Cummings and others like Grasp Sergeant (Ret.) Elizabeth Anne Helm-Frazier, extra persons are studying about this courageous, devoted pioneering battalion.
In response to Womenofthe6888th.org, “the 6888th was not an All-Black or an all African-American unit. The 6888 Central Postal Listing Battalion was a multi-ethnic unit that was predominantly Black with no less than one Puerto Rican and one Mexican lady. It is a change from what we now have been writing and saying for years. Not too long ago, the committee turned conscious of this error. The second oldest 6888th veteran nonetheless with us is 102-year-old PFC Crescencia Garcia. PFC Garcia is Puerto Rican and knew others within the unit.”
A local of St. Petersburg, Fla., MSG (Ret.) Helm-Frazier joined the Military for its academic and job alternatives. All through her 25-year profession, she held a wide range of assignments and high-profile positions. Her bio notes that she was an distinctive soldier, position mannequin, and was steadily counseled for her excellent management, recruitment and retention expertise. After her retirement in 2006, she continued her service to army ladies, veterans and neighborhood actions.
Helm-Frazier, together with Col. Cummings, helped increase funds to construct a monument at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. to acknowledge the 6888th’s exemplary service in WWII.
“I began on the 6888th Monument group which was the dream of Commander Carlton G. Philpot, US Navy (Ret.),” she stated. “Our objective was to lift cash for the monument and get the phrase out in regards to the 6888th and their mission to cut back the two-year backlog of mail as a result of mail was the third most essential factor to a service member: first, pay; second, meals and shelter, and third, mail!” Moreover, she served as a producer of the critically acclaimed documentary, “No Mail, Low Morale,” which tells the 6888th Postal Listing Battalion story.
Then there’s Col (Ret.) Edna Cummings – a tremendous neighborhood servant and position mannequin extraordinaire.
“In 2018, Lizz (MSG Helm-Frazier) and I started a journey to lift funds for the 6888th Monument at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan. to honor these unsung WWII Sheroes,” stated Cummings. “Little did we all know that the monument would launch a motion of worldwide recognitions, an award-winning documentary, a Blue Plaque on the King Edward’s College in Birmingham, England, a Congressional Gold Medal, a put up workplace renaming in Buffalo, N.Y., a army base renaming at Ft. Lee, Va. (after LTG Arthur Gregg and Main Charity Adams), a Broadway-bound musical by Govt Producer Blair Underwood, a Netflix film, and lots of different state and native proclamations. I’m grateful to be part of sharing the Six Triple Eight’s historical past with the world.”
This month, because the AFRO celebrates Black ladies heroes, Col. Edna Cummings, we’re grateful to you, Lizz and so many different excellent ladies leaders who’ve served effectively and proceed to serve. You’re position fashions extraordinaire, as are the ladies we’re that includes on this month’s particular version. Kudos to you for staying on the battlefield! We’re wanting ahead to celebrating 6888th Day in Maryland on March 9, 2024, and yearly thereafter. And, who is aware of, by then there could also be 6888th days all through the nation!
We additionally salute the previous and present ladies of the AFRO, together with those that are usually not of African descent. You’re appreciated for all that you simply do day by day to assist us inform our story—together with this lovely particular version saluting Black ladies younger and outdated, ladies from all walks of life, ladies who do what they do as a result of it’s the correct factor to do.
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