The Six Triple Eight Tells the Heroic True Story of the 6888th Battalion
Nicole Avant and Tyler Perry share their journey to bring history to the screen.
By Anne Cohen
Dec. 27, 2024
When producer Nicole Avant was growing up, one of the most remarkable feats of courage during World War II wasn’t taught in school. “I first heard about the 6888th Battalion when I was a young girl,” Avant told Netflix. “My mom told me about Major Charity Adams, but I didn’t know the full story.”
Captain Charity Adams of Columbia, NC marches ahead of the 6888th Battalion.
What was the 6888th Battalion?
In early 1945, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion — the first
and only Women’s Army Corps unit of color to be stationed in Europe during
World War II — was deployed to England to take on a seemingly impossible
mission. Their assignment? Sort through, catalog, and prepare for delivery a
backlog of more than 17 million pieces of mail to US soldiers fighting abroad
and their loved ones back home, often mislabeled or without a complete address.
The task was Herculean, and the conditions arduous. As well as the terrors of
war, the 855 women of the 6888th, led by Major Adams, faced segregation and
sexism within their own military, and carried out their important work in derelict
buildings lacking adequate light and heat. They were given six months to complete
the job. They did it in 90 days, bringing missives of hope to the front lines.
Still, their inspiring story has remained largely untold — until now. With their new movie The Six Triple Eight, Avant and writer, producer, and director Tyler Perry seek to bring deserved and long-overdue attention to the sacrifice and patriotism of the brave women whose tireless efforts helped raise morale and win the war.
The film has been a labor of love for Avant, a commitment Perry recognized with a surprise dedication to the life, service, and memory of her parents, Clarence and Jacqueline Avant, who she credits with nurturing her interest in history. “I saw my mom’s name [at the end], and it was so emotional for me,” Avant said. “My mom really loved history and would be so proud that this story was finally being told.”
“My parents would’ve loved The Six Triple Eight because they [were] big believers in passing the baton, and they always believed that you can’t teach people about passing the baton if they don’t understand the baton itself, and they don’t understand the history that’s behind the baton that they’re passing on,” she added.
Chaplain William J. Green reads the benediction at the marriage ceremony of
Private First Class Florence A. Collins, of the 6888th Postal Directory Battalion,
to Corporal William A. Johnson of the 1696th Labor Supervision Company, in Rouen,
France, August, 1945. This is the first African American marriage to be performed
in the European Theater of Operations.
PhotoQuest/Getty Images
What is The Six Triple Eight based on?
That desire to live up to her parents’ example meant that, when the opportunity
to make a movie about the 6888th came across Avant’s desk, she didn’t
hesitate. The project started when producer Carlota Espinosa secured the rights
to Kevin M. Hymel’s 2019 WWII History Magazine piece “Fighting a
Two-Front War.” Espinosa then sent the article to her friend and producer
Keri Selig, who brought Peter Guber and his Mandalay Entertainment on board.
With no script or director yet attached, they developed a sizzle reel to show
Avant, who immediately championed the project.
Her first call was to Perry, a filmmaker she was confident would give the women of the 6888th their due. “Tyler Perry is the best writer, producer, director all wrapped up in one that I knew that could tell this story,” she said. “Tyler loves history even more than I do. He appreciates African American history and our part in the story of America.”
Yet even for Perry, the exploits of the 6888th came as a revelation. “I was like, ‘Nicole, wait, what? This is a true story?’ ” he told Netflix. “The level of passion she had behind it, she got me excited right away.”
Members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion take part in a parade
ceremony in honor of Joan d'Arc at the marketplace where she was burned at the
stake, 1945. Image courtesy National Archives.
Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
Who was Lena Derriecott King?
Perry immediately dove into the research, looking for any living members of
the unit that he could contact. Just one day after speaking to Avant about the
project, he flew to Las Vegas to meet Lena Derriecott King, a veteran of the
6888th Battalion, who is played by Ebony Obsidian in the film. “She was
99 at the time, so sharp, so bright,” he recalled. “Seeing the passion
in her eyes when she talked about what that time meant, I thought, ‘Here’s
my way in to tell the story.’ ”
In The Six Triple Eight, Lena’s character is our guide to the world of the 6888th. Alongside her fellow recruits, she trains under the command of Major Charity Adams, portrayed with grit and grace by Kerry Washington. “Kerry was my first choice always,” Avant said. “She is so strong, and she’s confident, she’s kind, and she’s empathetic. She respects and honors women of color in history and always wants to celebrate the story of an underdog.”
With so much rich material to pull from, Perry described writing the script as a race against the clock. “The Six Triple Eight poured out of me from the time I started writing the first sentence,” he said. Part of that urgency was driven by his desire to show King the finished product. Though she passed away in January 2024 at the age of 100, she was able to see a rough cut of the movie. “She loved it,” Perry said. “She was saluting the screen. She was laughing. But at the end of it, it was so powerful. She was in tears. She just said, ‘Thank you so much for letting the world know that we contributed.’ ”
For both Perry and Avant, that is the ultimate goal. “I want audiences to feel what I felt when I sat with Lena, when she was telling me the story, the pride that I felt in her, and all of these women,” Perry said.
Captain Mary Kearney and American WAC Commanding Officer Major Charity Adams
(1918-2002) inspect the first arrivals to the 6888th Central Postal Directory
Battalion at a temporary post in Birmingham, West Midlands, England, 15th February
1945. The 6888th (known as the 'Six Triple Eight') was the only all-African-American
WAC unit sent to Europe during World War II, with responsibility for clearing
backlogged mail in England and France.
Archive Photos/Getty Images
“The women of the 6888th Battalion represent the best of America,”
Avant said. “They represent strength. They represent courage. They represent
bravery. But they also represent humanity. They represent the energy in all
of us that wants to quit, but never does. They understood that they may not
ever receive any accolades for the fruits of their labor, but they didn’t
do it for themselves. They did it for the greater good. And that is why I have
such respect for this battalion and these women, and I’m so excited to
tell the story.”
The Six Triple Eight is now streaming on Netflix.