Diksha Sundriyal
In Netflix’s ‘The Six Triple Eight,’ a forgotten part of history is brought to life. The film follows the story of an all-women-of-color battalion tasked with clearing up the enormous mail backlog during the Second World War, due to which the soldiers and their families have been out of touch for a very long time. While Lena Derriecott is the primary protagonist, we also get to meet other women in the battalion and get their side of the story. These women become Lena’s support system and help her through a tough time while dealing with their own issues. While the film relies on real events and characters to tell the tale, some fictional aspects have been added to it.
Johnnie Mae Burton, Dolores Washington, and Elaine White Represent the Women of the 6888
The real story of the 6888 Battalion takes center stage in the Tyler Perry movie, but with 855 women in the battalion, the writer-director needed to come up with some fictional characters to streamline the story and fit it into a film’s narrative. The characters of Johnnie Mae Burton, Dolores Washington, and Elaine White were created for this purpose. Though there were women with similar names in the battalion, the characters played by Shanice Shantay, Sarah Jeffery, and Pepi Sonuga are more of a composite of the women in the 6888 rather than particular people, unlike Lena Derriecott and Major Charity Adams.
When Johnnie Mae Burton (Shanice Shantay) introduces herself, she reveals that she is from the South. There was a Johnnie Mae from Texas in the 6888, though her last name was Walton. She passed away on August 19, 2019. Another woman to share the name with Shantay’s character is Johnnie M Barton of Illinois, who served with the 6888, but her fate following the war remains unknown. In the same vein, we meet cousins Dolores Washington and Elaine White. Dolores is a biracial woman who has a knack for history. There were a couple of Dolores in the 6888— Dolores Maime Johnston, Dolores Carolyn Gray, and Dolores Browne (who died on the first day of her service with the 6888). There is, however, no record of a Dolores Washington.
Similarly, while Elaine Smith and Elaine Viola Jones were in the 6888, there is no mention of Elaine White, which suggests that her character might also be fictional. While the characters of Johnnie Mae Burton, Dolores Washington, and Elaine White may be fictional, they were written with the women of the 6888 in mind. All three of them were given distinct backgrounds and personalities to show the diversity within the battalion and how, despite their differences, the women came together to solve a seemingly unsolvable problem. To prepare for the roles, the actresses dove into research about the Second World War and the work of the 6888.
Sarah Jeffery revealed that Dolores’ unapologetic nature and her acceptance of her biracial background gave the actress confidence and helped her embrace her own biracial heritage. For her and her co-stars, playing the women of the 6888 and bringing their stories to light was an honor. None of them had heard of the battalion and their work before they signed on to do the movie, which is why they believe it is even more important to make movies like this and acknowledge and appreciate the women who have otherwise been ignored.
