Tyler Perry’s new Netflix film tells the harrowing story of the 6888th battalion
(Picture: PA Archive)Tyler Perry is filming a new Netflix World War II epic, Six Triple Eight.
Perry is directing the film based on Kevin M Hymel’s article about the 6888th battalion, which was published in Warfare History Network. The story of the 688th battalion, also known as the Six Triple Eight, is a harrowing tale of a multi-ethnic unit predominantly made up of African Americans of the Women’s Army Corps.
Actress Kerry Washington was recently spotted in Yorkshire filming scenes for the upcoming film.
Washington was seen wearing a military costume that included a khaki overcoat, a beret and a brown satchel and was later seen hugging Perry.
Oprah Winfrey and Susan Sarandon will also star along Washington in the Netflix drama.
What was the Six Triple Eight?
The Six Triple Eight were 855 ethnic minority women who joined the war effort to help American soldiers to reconnect with their families and loved ones back home.
The women were assigned to different locations including Birmingham, Paris and Rouen with the mission of clearing three years of backlogged mail in the European Theater of Operations.
The women faced discrimination and worked in awful conditions including cold, dark and rat-infested aircraft hangars far away from their homes in unfamiliar and often war-torn lands.
Despite their harrowing experience, the women served their country proudly and accomplished their mission of sorting more than 17 million pieces of mail in record time.
Major Charity Adams commanded the battalion and became the first African American woman to receive an Army commission.
Major Adams ended the war as a lieutenant colonel and as the highest-ranking black woman in the Army.
There is one surviving 6888th veteran still alive today who is 102 years old – Crescencia Garcia from Puerto Rico.
Who else is starring in Six Triple Eight?
Other actors appearing in the film include Sam Waterston, Dean Norris, Gregg Sulkin, Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, Kylie Jefferson, Shanice Shantay, Sarah Jeffery, Pepi Sonuga, Jay Reeves, Jeanté Godlock, Moriah Brown, and Baadja-Lyne Odums.
