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Enola Gay Mathews
On Veterans Day, ceremonies are held nationwide to mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the end of European hostilities of World War I. We observe it today as Veterans Day, yet across much of Europe, Nov. 11 is still Armistice Day. Your Saturday, Nov. 11, issue of the Sulphur Springs News-Telegram will include a special Veterans Day section compiled by our team of writers spotlighting the war-era stories of local veterans. Each one is a hero and I hope you will read it cover to cover!
Here’s another war story, taken from the Smithsonian magazine’s March 2023 issue. A unique company of women soldiers helped to deliver untold happiness to Americans serving abroad during the final year of World War II. They served in the military organization known as Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) created in 1941. Soon thereafter, these women became members of the regular Army, known as WACs, a unit first directed by a Texan, Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby. One unique group would head overseas.
In February of 1945, the first African-American WAC unit arrived in Birmingham, England, as the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Its daunting task was to “get the mail to the troops” because across Europe, our boys had been moving quickly and their mail had fallen far behind. Some combat soldiers had not received mail from home in more than a year, which caused morale to sink. Land, air and sea invasions from D-Day in the spring and summer of 1944 and December’s Battle of the Bulge were fought without much communication from home. By the following May, the hard-working WACs of the “Six Triple Eight” had cleared six airplane hangars filled to the brim with mail. They’d also censored the letters and salvaged items in Christmas packages ruined by vermin. For months, the women worked around the clock in three eight-hour shifts daily, processing an average of 65,000 pieces of mail per shift. After the mail backlog in England was cleared, the company went to Rouen, France, to tackle more mail issues, then, completed their mission by resolving the last mail backlog in Paris in early 1946. And the women haven’t been forgotten.
A 2019 documentary called “The SixTripleEight: No Mail, Low Morale” showed the women as cheerful, energetic workers, but it was their shared sense of duty that made them successful. Each knew what a letter from home could mean to a soldier fighting in the war. In recent years, surviving members of the 6888th were honored as patriots with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition. In 2023, their inspiring true story is being told in Tyler Perry’s Netflix film, “Six Triple Eight,” about the only all-Black, all-female Army battalion to serve overseas during WWII.
November has arrived, and with it the American season of Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for?
Also, don’t forget:
The Sulphur Springs Symphony League Live Auction will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, at KSST, 717 East Shannon Road.
The Live Blue Santa Toy Drive will be conducted from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, on Walmart parking lot. The Blue Santa Toy distribution will be Saturday, Dec. 9, at Shannon Oaks Church, 1113 East Shannon Road.
The CASA Cookie Walk will begin at 9 a.m Friday, Dec. 1, at First United Methodist Church, 301 Church St.
The Lions Club Lighted Christmas Parade will be Friday night, Dec. 1, departing from Buford Park.
The North East Texas Choral Society “Celtic Christmas Concert” is Saturday, Dec 2, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 3, at 2 p.m. in the Sulphur Springs High School Auditorium at the Civic Center.
The Wreaths Across America event will be held on Saturday, Dec. 1, at 10 a.m. in Sulphur Springs City Cemetery at Seventh at California streets. Restlawn Memorial Park and 12 other local cemeteries will also participate.