Posted on Mar 5, 2022
Bertha Harrison Dupre and Elizabeth Barker Johnson: Sisters in arms - VAntage Point
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WWII World War Two
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Thank you my friend MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. for posting and honoring WWII women's army corps veterans Bertha Harrison Dupre and Elizabeth Baker Johnson
Image: Company C of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the “SixTripleEight.”Master Sergeant Bertha Dupree & Elizabeth Barker Johnson
Background from {[blogs.va.gov/VAntage/100811/bertha-harrison-dupre-and-elizabeth-barker-johnson-sisters-in-arms/]
1. Bertha Harrison Dupre enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) on September 1, 1943. Prior to that, she worked for the War Department, according to the Salisbury Post. In August 1944, she joined the segregated Black female WAC unit, Company C of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the “SixTripleEight.” When the unit arrived in Birmingham, England, they learned of their mission to clear the mountains of backlogged mail stuffed to the ceiling in Quonset huts. Working around the clock, seven days a week, they processed for delivery over 17 million pieces of mail in three months.
Dupre achieved the rank of Master Sergeant. She received an honorable discharge at Fort Dix, NJ on December 7, 1945 – exactly four years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, according to her military service records.
When Dupre returned home from the war, she found employment with the then-known Veterans Administration helping Veterans enroll in school. According to her obituary, she also joined the WAC Reserve and was called up to serve again during the Korean and Vietnam wars. Before retiring, she worked for Amtrak’s Montrealer that ran from Washington D.C. to Montreal.
2. Elizabeth Baker Johnson
Johnson joined the WACs on March 11, 1943, after seeing a flyer in the mail which read, “Uncle Sam Wants You.” She received training as a truck driver at Fort Devens and her first assignment was Camp Campbell in Kentucky as a truck driver, mainly transporting soldiers to the train station. She was transferred to the “SixTripleEight” in August 1944.
“She did not have enough money for college, so she enlisted,” said her daughter, Cynthia.
By May 1945, the SixTripleEight was sent to Rouen, France to clear the backlog of mail there. With some time spent in Paris, Johnson returned home aboard the Queen Mary on Nov. 4, 1945, and was discharged at Fort Bragg, NC, on November 12.
She enrolled at Winston-Salem Teachers College, now Winston-Salem State University, in 1946. She was the first woman at the school to use the G.I. Bill to pay for her college education. She taught for 32 years and stayed active as a volunteer for another 15 years.
She died on August 23, 2020, six months after attending Dupre’s funeral."
Terry Crews Narration of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion: American Valor 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmLH1dlh7RE
FYI Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SMSgt Tom Burns SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL MSG Andrew White Maj Marty Hogan Sgt (Join to see) PO3 Phyllis Maynard PO1 William "Chip" Nagel TSgt David L. Maj Robert Thornton SGM Major Stroupe 1SG Michael Blount 1SG (Join to see) 1SG James L Vetter PO3 Edward Riddle CSM Charles Hayden PO2 Marco Monsalve SGT Charlie Lee
Image: Company C of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the “SixTripleEight.”Master Sergeant Bertha Dupree & Elizabeth Barker Johnson
Background from {[blogs.va.gov/VAntage/100811/bertha-harrison-dupre-and-elizabeth-barker-johnson-sisters-in-arms/]
1. Bertha Harrison Dupre enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) on September 1, 1943. Prior to that, she worked for the War Department, according to the Salisbury Post. In August 1944, she joined the segregated Black female WAC unit, Company C of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the “SixTripleEight.” When the unit arrived in Birmingham, England, they learned of their mission to clear the mountains of backlogged mail stuffed to the ceiling in Quonset huts. Working around the clock, seven days a week, they processed for delivery over 17 million pieces of mail in three months.
Dupre achieved the rank of Master Sergeant. She received an honorable discharge at Fort Dix, NJ on December 7, 1945 – exactly four years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, according to her military service records.
When Dupre returned home from the war, she found employment with the then-known Veterans Administration helping Veterans enroll in school. According to her obituary, she also joined the WAC Reserve and was called up to serve again during the Korean and Vietnam wars. Before retiring, she worked for Amtrak’s Montrealer that ran from Washington D.C. to Montreal.
2. Elizabeth Baker Johnson
Johnson joined the WACs on March 11, 1943, after seeing a flyer in the mail which read, “Uncle Sam Wants You.” She received training as a truck driver at Fort Devens and her first assignment was Camp Campbell in Kentucky as a truck driver, mainly transporting soldiers to the train station. She was transferred to the “SixTripleEight” in August 1944.
“She did not have enough money for college, so she enlisted,” said her daughter, Cynthia.
By May 1945, the SixTripleEight was sent to Rouen, France to clear the backlog of mail there. With some time spent in Paris, Johnson returned home aboard the Queen Mary on Nov. 4, 1945, and was discharged at Fort Bragg, NC, on November 12.
She enrolled at Winston-Salem Teachers College, now Winston-Salem State University, in 1946. She was the first woman at the school to use the G.I. Bill to pay for her college education. She taught for 32 years and stayed active as a volunteer for another 15 years.
She died on August 23, 2020, six months after attending Dupre’s funeral."
Terry Crews Narration of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion: American Valor 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmLH1dlh7RE
FYI Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SMSgt Tom Burns SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL MSG Andrew White Maj Marty Hogan Sgt (Join to see) PO3 Phyllis Maynard PO1 William "Chip" Nagel TSgt David L. Maj Robert Thornton SGM Major Stroupe 1SG Michael Blount 1SG (Join to see) 1SG James L Vetter PO3 Edward Riddle CSM Charles Hayden PO2 Marco Monsalve SGT Charlie Lee
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LTC Stephen F.
Women of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion | Elizabeth Anne-Helm Frazier
Join Elizabeth Anne Helm-Frazier for a discussion of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only female African-American unit sent overseas in WWII. Given six months to sort and send two years' worth of backlogged mail, the women of the 6888th had to identify the seven million military and serving civilians in the European theater and determine where they were now stationed--often from incorrectly addressed mail. Learn how their little-known but crucial service boosted morale and helped pave the way for victory in this month's Legacy Lecture.
For more information about the effort to award the women of the 6888th the Congressional Gold Medal, contact Ms. Helm-Frazier at [login to see] .
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion consisted of 850 officers and enlisted in four companies, and was the only female African-American unit sent overseas. Their commander, Maj. Charity Adams, was the first African-American woman to be commissioned.
The women trained at Fort Oglethorpe, GA. It was typical basic training – running and jumping; learning to wear gas masks, identify enemy materiel including ships, airplanes, and weapons; they climbed ropes; learned to board and evacuate ships and did long rucksack marches.
In January 1945, the women traveled by train to Camp Shanks, NY, where they sailed for Glasgow, Scotland on Feb. 3, 1945, and then rode a train to Birmingham, England, their station. The enlisted women were housed in the old King Edward School, and the officers stayed in two houses.
Their workspace were unheated and poorly lit airplane hangars stacked floor to ceiling with mailbags, some two years old. Packages with homemade goodies had long been ransacked by varmints. Much of the mail was addressed incorrectly – to old addresses, or simply no address; “To Junior, Gloucester.” Many service members shared names; 7,500 were named Robert Smith.
When a male general came to inspect the unit, Major Adams prevented him from viewing the women’s private rooms while some of them were sleeping. After headquarters and off-duty personnel of the unit were assembled in a formation as instructed, the general chastised Major Adams for not having all her troops present. When Major Adams attempted to explain that the women worked three different shifts and that she followed the orders she was given, the general cut her off and threatened to send a “white first lieutenant” to show her how to command the unit. Major Adams’ famous reply, “Over my dead body, Sir,” nearly earned her a court-martial, but the general was subsequently dissuaded from taking that course of action. By the time the same general visited the unit in France, his attitude had changed and he appreciated the 6888th’s accomplishments (p. 600).
The 6888th was a self-sufficient unit; they had their own medics, dining hall, military police (who were not armed, but were trained in ju jitsu), transportation, administrative and support services. While Red Cross social facilities were not segregated, African-American military women were not permitted entrance. The unit had their own social organizations and sports teams, and refused to use the special facility the Red Cross opened for African-American women only.
Military authorities estimated that it would take at least six months and closer to a year to get the backlog taken care of. It took three months.
In May 1945, the 6888th was moved to Rouen, France, about an hour east of the port city of Le Havre. They were housed in an old mill complex, La Foudre, which had been purchased by the French government and turned into barracks just before World War II.
Their new working conditions resembled the old – a gigantic backlog of undelivered mail and packages. This time, they were not working alone; French civilians and German prisoners of war were working with them. Again, working shifts around the clock, the women had the backlog cleared out in three months.
It was while the unit was stationed in Rouen, on July 8, 1945, that Pfc. Mary J. Barlow, Pfc. Mary H. Bankston, and Sgt. Dolores M. Browne were killed in a jeep accident. The unit members paid for caskets and organized memorial services for the women, and they were buried in the Normandy American Cemetery. Maj. Adams had the hardest duty for a commander – writing the women’s families.
In February 1946, the unit returned to the United States and was disbanded at Fort Dix, NJ. There were no victory or homecoming parades, and no official recognition of the importance of their accomplishing the impossible in little time. The only note of a job well done was that Maj. Adams was promoted to Lt. Col. on arrival home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXevkxdYurc
FYI 1st Lt Padre Dave Poedel CWO3 (Join to see)
LTC Greg HenningLTC John Mohor MAJ Ken LandgrenCPT Jack DurishCPT Richard TrioneCPT Chris Loomis CPT (Join to see) CH (CPT) (Join to see) SFC John Lich SGT James Murphy SGT (Join to see)1SG Steven Imerman MSG Floyd Williams SSG Leo BellSPC Terry Page SPC Robert Coventry GySgt Gary Cordeiro MGySgt (Join to see)
Join Elizabeth Anne Helm-Frazier for a discussion of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only female African-American unit sent overseas in WWII. Given six months to sort and send two years' worth of backlogged mail, the women of the 6888th had to identify the seven million military and serving civilians in the European theater and determine where they were now stationed--often from incorrectly addressed mail. Learn how their little-known but crucial service boosted morale and helped pave the way for victory in this month's Legacy Lecture.
For more information about the effort to award the women of the 6888th the Congressional Gold Medal, contact Ms. Helm-Frazier at [login to see] .
The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion consisted of 850 officers and enlisted in four companies, and was the only female African-American unit sent overseas. Their commander, Maj. Charity Adams, was the first African-American woman to be commissioned.
The women trained at Fort Oglethorpe, GA. It was typical basic training – running and jumping; learning to wear gas masks, identify enemy materiel including ships, airplanes, and weapons; they climbed ropes; learned to board and evacuate ships and did long rucksack marches.
In January 1945, the women traveled by train to Camp Shanks, NY, where they sailed for Glasgow, Scotland on Feb. 3, 1945, and then rode a train to Birmingham, England, their station. The enlisted women were housed in the old King Edward School, and the officers stayed in two houses.
Their workspace were unheated and poorly lit airplane hangars stacked floor to ceiling with mailbags, some two years old. Packages with homemade goodies had long been ransacked by varmints. Much of the mail was addressed incorrectly – to old addresses, or simply no address; “To Junior, Gloucester.” Many service members shared names; 7,500 were named Robert Smith.
When a male general came to inspect the unit, Major Adams prevented him from viewing the women’s private rooms while some of them were sleeping. After headquarters and off-duty personnel of the unit were assembled in a formation as instructed, the general chastised Major Adams for not having all her troops present. When Major Adams attempted to explain that the women worked three different shifts and that she followed the orders she was given, the general cut her off and threatened to send a “white first lieutenant” to show her how to command the unit. Major Adams’ famous reply, “Over my dead body, Sir,” nearly earned her a court-martial, but the general was subsequently dissuaded from taking that course of action. By the time the same general visited the unit in France, his attitude had changed and he appreciated the 6888th’s accomplishments (p. 600).
The 6888th was a self-sufficient unit; they had their own medics, dining hall, military police (who were not armed, but were trained in ju jitsu), transportation, administrative and support services. While Red Cross social facilities were not segregated, African-American military women were not permitted entrance. The unit had their own social organizations and sports teams, and refused to use the special facility the Red Cross opened for African-American women only.
Military authorities estimated that it would take at least six months and closer to a year to get the backlog taken care of. It took three months.
In May 1945, the 6888th was moved to Rouen, France, about an hour east of the port city of Le Havre. They were housed in an old mill complex, La Foudre, which had been purchased by the French government and turned into barracks just before World War II.
Their new working conditions resembled the old – a gigantic backlog of undelivered mail and packages. This time, they were not working alone; French civilians and German prisoners of war were working with them. Again, working shifts around the clock, the women had the backlog cleared out in three months.
It was while the unit was stationed in Rouen, on July 8, 1945, that Pfc. Mary J. Barlow, Pfc. Mary H. Bankston, and Sgt. Dolores M. Browne were killed in a jeep accident. The unit members paid for caskets and organized memorial services for the women, and they were buried in the Normandy American Cemetery. Maj. Adams had the hardest duty for a commander – writing the women’s families.
In February 1946, the unit returned to the United States and was disbanded at Fort Dix, NJ. There were no victory or homecoming parades, and no official recognition of the importance of their accomplishing the impossible in little time. The only note of a job well done was that Maj. Adams was promoted to Lt. Col. on arrival home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXevkxdYurc
FYI 1st Lt Padre Dave Poedel CWO3 (Join to see)
LTC Greg HenningLTC John Mohor MAJ Ken LandgrenCPT Jack DurishCPT Richard TrioneCPT Chris Loomis CPT (Join to see) CH (CPT) (Join to see) SFC John Lich SGT James Murphy SGT (Join to see)1SG Steven Imerman MSG Floyd Williams SSG Leo BellSPC Terry Page SPC Robert Coventry GySgt Gary Cordeiro MGySgt (Join to see)
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