Messengers of War: What happened to the heroes of the movie at the end of the year on Netflix?

For the final holidays of the year, Netflix has unveiled its latest prestigious feature film. Entitled Messengers of War, this Tyler Perry film revisits the authentic but little-known story of Battalion 6888, made up of African-American women. The latter was responsible for tracking the mail during World War II, a mission that was carried out at the risk of their lives.

Despite the bravery they displayed, these shadowy heroines have been forgotten by most history books. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that an official tribute was paid to them, and some members of the battalion were posthumously awarded medals by Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The film covers only part of the story

The Netflix feature film does not cover the entire history of the battalion. The film goes back in detail to the circumstances leading up to the creation of this unit, and then to the training of its members under the leadership of Major Charity Adams Earle (Kerry Washington). The second part of the story sees the 6888th Battalion deployed to Europe where they discover the horrors of the conflict.

Their first mission sent them to Glasgow, Scotland, then to Birmingham, England. The determination of the young women of the battalion allowed them to deliver the mail in just three months, instead of the six that had been planned. This success will bring them to France.

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Three members of the battalion are buried in France

During a visit to France to promote his film, director Tyler Perry wanted to emphasize our country’s connection to the history of the 6888th Battalion: “I think it’s an important story that people in France want to discover and that people around them want to know.”

It took more than sixty years for the battalion’s contribution to be officially recognized by the American government. They were honored in 2009 at Arlington Cemetery, and nine years later a monument was unveiled at Fort Leavenworth. Fanny McClendon and Anna Mae Robertson are the last two survivors of the 855 members of Battalion 6668.

Major Adams, played by Kerry Washington, was the highest-ranking black woman in the US Army at the end of the war. After leaving the military in 1946, the latter received a degree in psychology. However, her teaching career did not distract her from activism and she devoted her whole life to the African-American community.

Messengers of War is now available exclusively on Netflix.

Discover the list of movies currently available on the platform!