#aafth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  ,s4   
#fcc  ,,an ,,act  ,to award a           
,congressional ,gold ,medal to the      
members of the ,women's ,army ,corps who
 were assigned to the #fhhhth ,central  
,postal ,directory ,battalion1 known as 
the ,six ,triple ,eight4  #a4 ,short    
title ,this ,act may be cited as the    
#8,six ,triple ,eight' ,congressional   
,gold ,medal ,act of #bjbj4  #b4        
,findings ,congress finds the following3
 7#a7 ,on ,july #a1 #aidc1 ,president   
,franklin ,d4 ,roosevelt signed into law
 legislation that established the       
,women's ,army ,corps 7referred to in   
this section as the ,,wac7 as a         
component in the ,army4 ,the ,,wac was  
converted from the ,women's ,army       
,auxiliary ,corps 7referred to in this  
section as the ,,waac71 which had been  
created in #aidb without official       
military status4 ,first ,lady ,eleanor  
,roosevelt and ,mary ,mc,leod ,bethune1 
the founder of the ,national ,council of
 ,negro ,women1 advocated for the       

admittance of ,african-,american women  
into the newly formed ,,wac to serve as 
officers and enlisted personnel4  7#b7  
,dubbed #aj percenters1 the recruitment 
of ,african-,american women to the      
,,waac was limited to #aj percent of the
 population of the ,,waac to match the  
proportion of ,african-,americans in the
 national population4 ,despite an       
executive order issued by ,president    
,franklin ,d4 ,roosevelt in #aida       
banning racial discrimination in        
civilian defense industries1 the ,armed 
,forces remained segregated4 ,enlisted  
women served in segregated units1       
participated in segregated training1    
lived in separate quarters1 ate at      
separate tables in mess halls1 and used 
segregated recreational facilities4     
,officers received their officer        
candidate training in integrated units  
but lived under segregated conditions4  
,specialist and technical training      
schools were integrated in #aidc4       
,during ,world ,war ,,ii1 a total of    

#f1ebj ,african-,american women served  
in the ,,waac and the ,,wac4  7#c7      
,after several units of ,white women    
were sent to serve in the ,european     
,theater of ,operations 7referred to in 
this section as the ,,eto7 during ,world
 ,war ,,ii1 ,african-,american          
organizations advocated for the ,war    
,department to extend the opportunity to
 serve overseas to ,african-,american   
,,wac units4  7#d7 ,in ,november #aidd1 
the ,war ,department approved sending   
,african-,american women to serve in    
,europe4 ,a battalion of all            
,african-,american women drawn from the 
,,wac1 the ,army ,service ,forces1 and  
the ,army ,air ,forces was created and  
designated as the #fhhhth ,central      
,postal ,directory ,battalion 7referred 
to in this section as the #fhhhth71     
which was nicknamed the ,six ,triple    
,eight4  7#e7 ,army officials reported a
 shortage of qualified postal officers  
within the ,,eto1 which resulted in a   
backlog of undelivered mail4 ,as ,allied

 forces drove across ,europe1 the       
ever-changing locations of              
servicemembers hampered the delivery of 
mail to those servicemembers4 ,because  
#g1jjj1jjj individuals from the ,united 
,states were serving in the ,,eto1 many 
of those individuals had identical      
names4 ,as an example1 #g1ejj such      
individuals were named ,robert ,smith4  
,one general predicted that the backlog 
in ,birmingham1 ,england would take #f  
months to process and the lack of       
reliable mail service was hurting       
morale4  7#f7 ,in ,march #aide1 the     
#fhhhth arrived in ,birmingham4 ,upon   
their arrival1 the #fhhhth found        
warehouses filled with millions of      
pieces of mail intended for members of  
the ,armed ,forces1 ,united ,states     
,government personnel1 and ,red ,cross  
workers serving in the ,,eto4  7#g7 ,the
 #fhhhth created effective processes and
 filing systems to track individual     
servicemembers1 organize undeliverable  
mail1 determine the intended recipient  

for insufficiently addressed mail1 and  
handle mail addressed to servicemembers 
who had died4 ,adhering to their motto  
of ,no mail1 low morale1 the women      
processed an average of #fe1jjj pieces  
of mail per shift and cleared the       
#f-month backlog of mail within #c      
months4  7#h7 ,the #fhhhth traveled to  
,rouen1 ,france in ,may #aide and worked
 through a separate backlog of          
undelivered mail dating back as far as  
#c years4  7#i7 ,at the completion of   
their mission1 the entire unit returned 
to the ,united ,states4 ,the #fhhhth was
 discontinued on ,march #i1 #aidf1 at   
,camp ,kilmer1 ,new ,jersey4  7#aj7 ,the
 accomplishments of the #fhhhth in      
,europe encouraged the ,general ,board1 
,united ,states ,forces1 ,european      
,theater of ,operations to adopt the    
following premise in their study of the 
,,wac issued in ,december #aide3 ,the   
national security program is the joint  
responsibility of all ,americans        
irrespective of color or sex and the    

continued use of colored1 along with    
white1 female military personnel is     
required in such strength as is         
proportionately appropriate to the      
relative population distribution between
 colored and white races4  7#aa7 ,with  
the exception of smaller units of       
,african-,american nurses who served in 
,africa1 ,australia1 and ,england1 the  
#fhhhth was the only ,african-,american 
women's unit to serve overseas during   
,world ,war ,,ii4  7#ab7 ,the members of
 the ,six ,triple ,eight received the   
,european ,african ,middle ,eastern     
,campaign ,medal1 the ,women's ,army    
,corps ,service ,medal1 and the ,world  
,war ,,ii ,victory ,medal for their     
service4  #c4 ,congressional ,gold      
,medal  7a7 ,award authorized ,the      
,speaker of the ,house of               
,representatives and the ,president pro 
tempore of the ,senate shall make       
appropriate arrangements for the award1 
on behalf of ,congress1 of a single gold
 medal of appropriate design in honor of

 the women of the #fhhhth ,central      
,postal ,directory ,battalion 7commonly 
known as the ,six ,triple ,eight7 in    
recognition of-- 7#a7 the pioneering    
military service of those women2  7#b7  
the devotion to duty of those women2 and
  7#c7 the contributions made by those  
women to increase the morale of all     
,united ,states personnel stationed in  
the ,european ,theater of ,operations   
during ,world ,war ,,ii4  7b7 ,design   
and striking ,for the purposes of the   
award described in subsection 7a71 the  
,secretary of the ,treasury 7referred to
 in this ,act as the ,secretary7 shall  
strike the gold medal with suitable     
emblems1 devices1 and inscriptions1 to  
be determined by the ,secretary4  7c7   
,smithsonian ,institution  7#a7 ,in     
general ,after the award of the gold    
medal under subsection 7a71 the medal   
shall be given to the ,smithsonian      
,institution1 where the medal shall be  
available for display1 as appropriate1  
and made available for research4  7#b7  

,sense of ,congress ,it is the sense of 
,congress that the ,smithsonian         
,institution should make the gold medal 
received under paragraph 7#a7 available 
elsewhere1 particularly at-- 7,a7       
appropriate locations associated with   
the #fhhhth ,central ,postal ,directory 
,battalion2  7,b7 the ,women in         
,military ,service for ,america         
,memorial2  7,c7 the ,united ,states    
,army ,women's ,museum2  7,d7 the       
,national ,world ,war ,,ii ,museum and  
,memorial2 and  7,e7 any other location 
determined appropriate by the           
,smithsonian ,institution4  #d4         
,duplicate medals ,under such           
regulations as the ,secretary may       
prescribe1 the ,secretary may strike and
 sell duplicates in bronze of the gold  
medal struck under section #c at a price
 sufficient to cover the costs of the   
medals1 including labor1 materials1     
dies1 use of machinery1 and overhead    
expenses4  #e4 ,national medals  7a7    
,national medals ,medals struck under   

this ,act are national medals for       
purposes of chapter #ea of title #ca1   
,united ,states ,code4  7b7 ,numismatic 
items ,for purposes of section #eacd of 
title #ca1 ,united ,states ,code1 all   
medals struck under this ,act shall be  
considered to be numismatic items4      
,passed the ,senate ,december #aj1      
#bjbj4,secretary