Letters to Soldiers and the Six Triple Eight
Moving film highlights gravity of communication with family in war
How important is communication with family for soldiers in war? These days with methods of instant contact, perhaps a letter is rare and for some people unnecessary. But in World War II, writing letters was the essential form of communication. And nothing could bolster morale like packages from home of baked goods, photos, books, small games, even toiletries and fresh underwear.
What happens if the Army falls down on the job and doesn’t get these letters and packages to soldiers in the field, and doesn’t get those soldiers’ letters home?
Just such a devastating situation happened as WWII was drawing to a close. Amidst personnel and vehicle shortages and constantly moving troops, the mail got pushed aside. It piled up, millions and millions of letters and packages undelivered in the European theater of operations.
The result was a major blow to morale and a scandalous failure.
So the Army finally, reluctantly, did something about it. After appeals from citizens reached Eleanor Roosevelt and then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a solution was proposed: deploy the soldiers of a Women’s Army Corps (WAC) unit to tackle the mountain of mail. The chosen segregated unit of African American women became the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, commonly called the Six Triple Eight. And in a situation that was repeated by other units comprised of soldiers who were minorities, the Six Triple Eight performed professionally and with great vigor. As a result, they got the job done in record time and vastly exceeded expectations. Working round the clock, they processed 17 million pieces of mail in three months.
A new film by Tyler Perry Productions chronicles this incredible story and is up for an Academy Award (for best original song, see video link at bottom of this post), which brought it to my attention. I try to catch as many nominated films as possible before the award show, which airs this Sunday. The film is available on Netflix.
Seeing the film’s dramatization of a soldier tucking a bloody letter into his pocket from another man who was killed in action, or a mother watching the mail day after day for any word from her son fighting in Europe, brought to mind the letters that were the basis for my own book about my father.
The inspiration for my book came from a set of letters from my father that were thankfully preserved by my mother. He sent them to her while they were courting, and they came not from the field, but from his Army hospital bed, as he recuperated for nearly two years from his battle injuries. Later, in researching family records, I read letters my dad wrote to his parents, his younger sister and others while he was fighting in Italy.
It is hard to express how I felt when gingerly holding those letters and soaking up the images of writer and reader sharing precious bits of information. In a letter to his teenage sister Helen, my dad, a North Dakota farmer, described the rural people he was observing in Italy:
“You were asking about the Italian people. Well, the ones I have seen around in these rural communities are poorly dressed and hard working people, very far behind us in so far as modern conveniences and machinery goes. The farmers use oxen for farm work and hauling and most of their implements are hand made. Most buildings are made of stone.”
Such general descriptions would make it past the Army censors, and it gave the folks at home a crucial way to connect with and relate to their loved ones fighting that horrific war halfway across the world.
Another message I detected beneath the surface of this note is how that simple description humanized the people caught in between warring armies. So many Italians and civilians from other countries were victims whose lives were devastated, and they deserved our understanding and compassion, probably difficult to come by in the heat of the war. As I traveled back to my father’s battlefields and met Italians who lived through it, I could sense the desperation and helplessness they must have felt.
The letter that affected me the most, read seven decades after my father wrote it to his folks, was written shortly after the incredible Monte la Difensa battle, where his unit began to earn their accolades and fame.
This was in no way a bragging letter, nor did it even discuss the war except for a brief reference to “what I have just been through.” It was written on December 9, 1943, which my research revealed was the very day that Erick stood up with his compatriots in a memorial ceremony for the seventy-three First Special Service Force men who were killed in that battle.
In between the lines, I could feel my father’s pain:
Dear folks,
It is soon Christmastime again. There is nothing I would like better than to be home and spend an old-fashioned Christmas like we used to. But that is something I can only hope for in the future, possibly next year. This year I thank God that my folks are all living in a country where they can be free from fear, free from want and free to worship as they desire. After what I have just been through I am convinced that there is a higher power than any power here on earth that is controlling the destinies of our lives. And with this thought in mind I have often wondered, lately, are we stopping often enough in the daily routine of life to give thanks to God for all the blessings and protection which we receive from him day after day throughout the year. At any rate it is a thought that should be uppermost in our minds especially during the holidays.
I want to wish you the very best during Christmas the coming New Year.
Love,
Erick G. Thorness
Letters home from a soldier, and family letters to a soldier in the field, were the only way to express the love and complicated emotions of being torn apart by war. The Six Triple Eight film highlighted the importance of carrying out the vital duty of making that communication happen. It also shines a light on the incredible 6888th, which was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2022.
As the movie tagline says of that tough battalion of committed women soldiers: “when America needed hope, they delivered.”
Here is a moving video of “The Journey,” up for an Oscar for Best Original Song for the Six Triple Eight. It was written by often-nominated Diane Warren and sung by H.E.R.
Thanks for sharing your story Bill. And, the movie is certainly worth watching.