6888th Postal Battalion Monument

                  Celebrate The 6888th, with $68!
                           (Or what ever you can! )                        

This fund is established to build this monument to honor, celebrate and share the achievements, sacrifices and service of 855 African-American women whose story has been hidden, The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. The battalion motto was “No mail, Low morale".

This WWII unit is the first and only all African-American female unit deployed overseas. Their mission was to sort and distribute the theater mail in Europe during WWII. The unit was deployed from 1945-1946 to three primary locations: Birmingham, England, Rouen, France and Paris, France. They had the undaunted task of clearing two years of backlogged mail that filled three large aircraft hangars from the floor to the ceiling. 

Thanks to efforts by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, these women were a “given a chance" to serve; but "not an equal chance". However, in spite of poor working conditions, unfair treatment, along with many other social and ethical challenges, within and outside the military, these women prevailed and excelled at all their tasks. For instance, in Birmingham, the Army gave them six months to clear a 2-year mail backlog. Then, Major Charity Adams, their Commanding Officer, divided the unit into three eight-hour shifts. Each shift processed 65,000 pieces of mail, with 7,500 letters addressed to Robert Smith, and some letters were addressed just to Junior, US Army. The ladies sorted over seven million pieces of mail in just in three months. To fully appreciate the scope of this task, and their working conditions in Birmingham--they worked in hangers that were cold and damp, with broken windows and lighting, along with rat infestation.  Several ladies were sent home with pneumonia. For more details visit the following link:    
https://www.pinterest.com/MommasHistory/6888th-postal-battalion/

Our website: https://www.womenofthe6888th.org
Visit us on Facebook: womenofthe6888th

About the monument: Fort Leavenworth's Memorialization Committee approved the design, and accepted the monument for placement in the Buffalo Soldier Military Park on the fort near the 555th Monument. The monument is 6-feet across, 4-feet deep and 4.5-feet tall, with a 22-inch bronze bust of LTC Charity Adams (Earley) on the top. Narrative historical writings and pictures will be etched in Black Granite. Note the "corporate donor marker" on the right. Corporations, groups and organizations that donate at least $6,888 names will be placed here. The next step in the process is to obtain the Secretary of Army's approval. Approval to be granted once all required funds are in the bank. To meet the planned Fall 2017 dedication date, we need to raise the funds by July 30, 2017.

Help us meet this date to build this monument by donating at least $68, if you are able. If you are not able, please donate whatever you can, but donate right away!

The Buffalo Soldier Educational and Historical Committee (BSEHC) is spearheading this effort, and is working under the Tax-Free Umbrella of the National 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association (910hcav.org). The BSEHC was formally the Buffalo Soldier Monument Committee which spearheaded the $1.3 million effort to build the Buffalo Soldier Monument at Fort Leavenworth. Google Buffalo Soldier Monument, Fort Leavenworth.

Over the past 25-plus years the committee has built six monuments honoring African-American military units and individuals. These include monuments honoring: General Colin L. Powell-the originator of the idea of the 13-foot horse and rider Buffalo Soldier Statue; General Roscoe Robinson-the army’s first Black Four Star General; LT. Henry Flipper-the first Black graduate of West Point and the first Black officer assigned to the Buffalo Soldiers; the 555th Paratroopers, the first Black army paratroopers, and the first Female Buffalo Soldier, Cathay Williams. The latter monument is located in the city of Leavenworth at the Richard Allen Cultural Center and Museum, a short distance from Fort Leavenworth’s front gate. The bronze13-foot horse and rider statue, and all the bronze busts for these monuments were done by Mr. Eddie Dixon of Lubbock, Texas. He accepted the commission to do the bronze 22-inch bronze bust of LTC Charity Adams (Early).

Mr. Dixon, who served with 101st Airborne during Vietnam, is an African American artist who has received numerous national awards and accolades. In 1994, the National Association of Military Museums named him the National Military Artist of the Year, and he was honored the same year by the National Association of Entrepreneurs. 
Sculptures of his are in the Air and Space Museum, and the National History Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, the Department of the Interior, the Pentagon, and numerous national museums, and shrines across the country. He also has corporate collections at Coca Cola and the Annenberg Foundation. He is currently completing two other military projects to honor African-American heroes. One is a 13-foot bronze sculpture of Messman Third Class Dorie Miller, first African American awarded the Navy Cross. Mr. Miller is a WWII Pearl Harbor Navy hero. This sculptor will be located in Waco, Texas, Mr. Miller's home town. Mr. Dixon is also the sculptor for the proposed West Point, Buffalo Soldier Monument.

As can be seen by the monuments completed over the past 25 years we have experience, to design, develop and complete this monument. In addition to working with Mr. Dixon during this time, our committee has also worked with the same major contractors also. 

Both LTC Charity Adams and her Executive Officer, Major Abbie Noel Campbell Mitchell, are members of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.  Another 6888th veteran is, Ms. Millie Dunn Veasey of Raleigh, NC, she’s is a member of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority.

Carlton G. Philpot, Chairman and Project Director, and Dominic Johnson, Vice Chairman and Chief Researcher, solicit the support our Alpha Phi Alpha brothers. It is hoped that all sororities and fraternities will provide financial support for this effort.

Thanks to each of you for taking time to consider our request for a donation. We will be most grateful if you would make your donation right away, and tell others through social media about this effort to celebrate the 6888th $68! 
          
         Thanks to each of you for taking time to consider our request for a donation.