THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT

THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT, Tyler Perry’s war drama, is about the only U.S. Black Women’s Auxiliary Battalion to serve on foreign soil during World War II.

A grieving young woman who loses her love in the war decides to join the Battalion in order to fight Hitler. The ladies are assigned an insurmountable task to sort 17 million pieces of backlog lost mail from and to soldiers on the front lines, to increase morale. THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT contains war-related violence, racism and discrimination, brief suggestive material, and some light foul language. Caution is advised for older children.

Lena Derriecott is a recent high school graduate who loses her Jewish boyfriend in World War II after his plane goes down in battle. Lena joins the Black Women’s Auxiliary Battalion with the desire to fight Hitler. She also hopes to find the missing pieces of the last moments of her fallen soldier, who never wrote to her as he promised.

Lena struggles with the rigorous challenges of soldier training. Quiet, and a bit withdrawn, she hides her inner conflict and grief. Smaller and slower than the rest, with a commander who doesn’t seem to care for her, King is doubtful she’ll make the cut.

The 6888th Battalion’s Commander is Major Charity Adams, a tough soldier who teaches Lena that black women have to be better than everyone else in order to even try to gain the privilege to fight for their country. With the help of Eleanor Roosevelt, played by Susan Sarandon, and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune, played by Oprah Winfrey, the women are given the first and only opportunity for Black women to serve on foreign soil.

U.S. soldiers are losing ground in the war because there’s a lack of morale. They haven’t received mail from their loved ones in months, and in some cases years. The mail debacle is caused by the necessity to use all the trucks available for the front lines. The 6888th is sent to sort 17 million pieces of mail which were dumped in airplane hangars. They are given six months to complete insurmountable task.

The women are forced to live in horrible conditions. With no heat, and little support, the Six Triple Eight Battalion is met with hostility and racism. The mail has been ransacked by vermin, riddled with moldy food sent by families, and incorrectly, or illegibly, addressed. Moreover, racist and misogynist leaders wish them to fail in their mission. However, the women who are used to fighting with true grit and few resources, rise to the challenge.

THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT is an exceptional, inspiring, moving story about the contributions of the dedicated, patriotic women of the 6888th Battalion who served in World War II. Kerry Washington and Ebony Obsidian are terrific as Major Charity Adams and Private Lena Derriecott. The movie also has a strong moral, patriotic worldview with a few positive references to God.

However, THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT has 29 mostly light obscenities and profanities, including two crude references to female anatomy. There’s also an opening scene where American and German soldiers fight a big battle in Italy, and Lena’s Jewish boyfriend’s plane’s crashes after being shot. Finally, although fighting against racism is part of the story, a couple scenes play that angle a little too strongly. So, those scenes seem a little forced and politically correct. MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution for the foul language in THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT.

Sadly, the women in the 6888th Battalion were not officially recognized by the U.S. Government for their work until 75 years later when they were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2020. Not told in Perry’s account, Major Adams was promoted and recognized as the first black woman to be given the title of Lieutenant Colonel. Also, most of the 855 women in the Battalion eventually received a college education through the G.I. Bill. Major Adams received her Master of Arts from Ohio State University. The entire 6888th Battalion was recognized by the Smithsonian Museum of National History in 1996.