NAACP Pennsylvania State Conference honoring Six Triple Eight members with military marked graves
By Alicia Roberts
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DELAWARE COUNTY, Pennsylvania (KYW) — Inside Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery, the family of PFC Evelyn Preston LeSueuer gathered more than 13 years after her passing to mark a part of her life and our nation’s history that went untold for decades.
LeSueuer, a graduate of West Catholic High School, served in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II in what became known as the Six Triple Eight – the U.S. Army’s 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion – the only all Black, all-female unit to serve overseas, tasked with clearing three years of mail backlog for troops in Europe.
Their mission was honored with a Congressional Gold Medal this past April and made popular by a Netflix movie released last December.
Gamal Preston, LeSueuer’s nephew, said his family first learned of the historical significance of his aunt’s service through the film.
“About a month and a half to two months after the movie came out on Netflix, and she said, you know Aunt Eva was in there,” Preston said.
Now, thanks to the work of the NAACP Pennsylvania State Conference, which launched the Unmarked Graves Project, all members of the Six Triple Eight will receive military marked graves and full honors
LeSueuer is the first in the nation with this distinction.
“I think if our family could represent all the other families who have been underrepresented or misrepresented, I think that this means a lot,” Preston said.
Ta-Wanda Preston is LeSueuer’s cousin. For her, this day is a long overdue step in honoring the sacrifice, bravery and resilience of a group of women who forever shaped history.
“It’s so important that we never forget because you know you don’t want your history to be gone,” Ta-Wanda Preston said.
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