PORTSMOUTH, Va. — "To honor the long ignored worth of the 6888 has been the greatest privilege of my career thus far," actor and director Tyler Perry said in a tweet recently, showing a picture of him on the set of his film in England.
The movie comes after President Joe Biden signed a bill to award the 855 women who served in the all-Black women's Army Corps unit with the U.S. Congressional gold medal.
The unit was called the 6888th Central Post Directory Battalion, more commonly known as the “Six-Triple-Eight." It was comprised of more than 850 women who went overseas to begin their duties.
Only a few of the hundreds of women are still alive today.
The unit took its slogan “no mail, low morale” to a new level when it became responsible for single-handedly clearing millions of pieces of backlogged mail in Europe between commanders, soldiers and their families.
The women persevered in the face of racism and sexism. Some even had to sleep in the hangar with rats and other unhealthy conditions just to get the job done.
Audrey Whitney was one of the women who served in the unit. Her daughter, Anita Fletcher, lives in Portsmouth and learned about her mother's significant contribution just a couple of years before Whitney passed away in 2017.
"This is really big. I mean, this was 800-plus women," said Fletcher. "I'm so grateful my mom was still alive when I was able to grasp a little bit more of what was going on and she was talking about it, more so when she got older...but I had no idea it was going to go this far."
After dozens of stories across the nation about this unit of WWII pioneers, Perry is shining a light on the women's historical impacts and projecting it on a bigger screen.
Perry filmed the movie in England where actors Kerry Washington and Oprah Winfrey are set to star in the upcoming stream on Netflix. Other actors include Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, Pepi Sonuga, Sarah Jeffery, Shanice Shantay, Jay Reeves, Dean Norris, Sam Waterston, Kylie Jefferson, Jeanté Godlock, Moriah Brown, and Susan Sarandon.
"When I saw the picture of Kerry Washington with her uniform on, it looked just like where they were," said Fletcher. "With African-Americans, it's been put on the shelf. You don't expect this to come out, but this is a new day."
Fletcher said it's part of a wave of recognition for her mother's hard work, keeping it in the spotlight for years to come.
She said her mother would have enjoyed seeing herself represented in a big film like this.
"I could tell you what she would say: 'It's about time,'" Fletcher laughed.
13News Now reached out to Tyler Perry Studios and Netflix to learn more about the film and its release date, but we have not heard back.