First African American women served to boost morale Published Feb. 17, 2010 By Ann Lukens 23rd Force Support Squadron MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- In February 1945, the first and only battalion of African Americans, who were a part of the Women's Army Corps, arrived in England for duty. Their mission was to redirect the tons of mail waiting to be delivered to more than seven million military and civilian personnel serving in the European Theater of Operations. Mail from home, along with food and a place to sleep, was a key to morale. Maj. Charity Adams Earley commanded the group of more than 800 women assigned to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Major Earley grew up as a minister's daughter in the segregated South. Armed with her father's belief that peace and good would defeat hatred, she attended college and taught school until she received an invitation in June 1942 to consider military service. She enlisted into the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and rose through the ranks until commissioned as the first black woman officer. When she was a lieutenant, Major Earley was sent to the Pentagon to develop WAC officer training courses. By 1944, black press agencies were urging the Pentagon to assign black WACs overseas--the 6888th CPDB was to be the pioneering unit. Major Earley understood only too well the obstacles her unit would face. The U.S. Army didn't expect the 6888th CPDB to succeed and also didn't expect much from Major Earley. The 6888th CPDB initially set up operations in England and eventually moved to France. The battalion's motto was simple, "No mail, low morale." Major Earley organized her troops into an around-the-clock operation with three shifts that averaged some 65,000 pieces of backlogged mail per shift. The troops initiated an updated information card on each person assigned to the ETO, but it was no small feat because the units were constantly moving during the drawdown of the war against Germany. Patriotism increased even as the 6888th CPDB faced a constant barrage of racial insults. While in England, the London Red Cross began building a separate hotel so white WACs would not have to live alongside black WACs. Major Earley fought this along with segregated recreational facilities. She filed court-martial charges against a general officer for making racial slurs about her unit. By March 1946, now a lieutenant colonel, second in rank only to the WAC Director, she proved that black women could serve their country as military personnel. Shortly thereafter, Colonel Earley left the Army and returned to civilian life, but continued to inspire young people to believe in themselves.