6888 Ceremony Held To Honor Special WWII Veterans
The Pennsylvania Veterans’ Memorial was the site for a ceremony celebrating the recent work of the NAACP Pennsylvania State Conference’s Unmarked Graves Project, to honor members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, four of whom are interred at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery (IGNC).
Nicknamed “The Six Triple Eight,” this was the only all-black, all-female unit to serve overseas during World War II. The battalion was tasked with clearing a massive backlog of mail for U.S. troops in Europe. The women succeeded in processing 17 million pieces of mail in record time, exceeding all expectations.
Brig. Gen. (PA) Maureen Weigl, deputy adjutant general, Veterans Affairs, delivered remarks during the ceremony, reading the names of those veterans from the 6888th interred at IGNC – Naomi Davenport Green, Grace E. Lucas, Ruby Mae Wilson Wilkerson, and Elisabeth Moraney Mosby.
“They say you die twice,” said Weigl. “Once when you take your last breath, and once when people stop saying your name.”