Six Triple Eight Day in Alletown, NJ

It is hard to imagine in our era of cell phones where you can reach anyone on the globe fairly instantly that eighty years as we fought in World War II soldiers and families went nearly two year without hearing from each other. The men were needed to fight. No one was left to distribute the mail. Morale was tanking.

In 1944 Mary McLeod Bethune reached out to her good friend, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and explained the soldiers and their families were losing heart. These two powerful women were able to get a mostly all-Black troop 6888 Womens Army Corp (WAC) to do "useful" work in the military. They were sent to England to sort the mail being stored in airplane hangars, many with the most basic of information. They were told they had six months to complete the task. Though set up for failure, they completed the task in only three months. May of the letters had nicknames or common names. The women created their own system working three eight-hour shifts a day to sort the mail round the clock. Their motto was "No Mail, No Morale."

Their story was nearly forgotten. Last year Netflix came out with The Six Triple Eight, a movie highlighting their important mission.

On May 18, 80 people gathered in Allentown, NJ to celebrate their first Six Triple Eight Day honoring Marion VanOrkey, one of the women, who is buried in the Allentown Methodist Cemetery. New Jersey is the fifth state to have a 6888 Day. Their goal is to have one in each state.

Our friend Mike spearheaded the event in record time. State Congresswoman Shirley Turner got it passed in our state legislature. A ceremony was held on the what would have been Ms. VanOrkey's birthday. The Allentown Village Initiative organized the event, and had homemade baked goods at the end.

Historian Dr. Karen T. Jordan, 6889 Descendent and ambassador gave remarks eloquently sharing their history. In 1940 Allentown only had 4,000 people, the Black population was a small part of the community, but had four (?) Congressional War Heroes. They did not have to serve, and were often treated poorly, but they believed in fighting for the United States.

Here are my pictures from the day: