The Six Triple Eight was released in select cinemas on December 6, A West Virginian mother waits daily for news from her two sons serving overseas. Meanwhile, childhood friends Lena and Abram face the difficulty of their budding romance Lena is black, and Abram is Jewish in s Philadelphia as Abram prepares to deploy. After Abram is killed in action shortly after becoming a fighter pilot, the heartbroken Lena vows to enlist upon graduation.
On the train to Georgia for basic training, Lena meets other enlistees, who will become her friends. Despite being well-trained, the battalion is not shipped out. One day, the West Virginian mother convinces Eleanor Roosevelt at the White House that, across the country, no one is receiving mail from the war. President Roosevelt meets with two high-ranking officers, Mrs. Roosevelt, and Mary MacLeod Bethune to discuss it. The general explains that delivery of supplies has been prioritized over mail.
As a consequence, millions of letters and packages have piled up in hangars in Britain. Clearing the backlog has become a logistical nightmare that several units have been unable to resolve, including a white women's unit.
Bethune maintains, however, that the black Women's Army Corps unit can do it, so Captain Adams' unit is finally given orders. He forces them to march through the city immediately upon landing to the disused, rat-infested, unheated boarding school which is to become their base.
The newly-promoted Major Adams and Captain Campbell are given six months to turn the school into a post office and barracks, and to clear a two-year backlog of undelivered mail. The deadline is intended to ensure their failure. Once the battalion has toiled to create liveable quarters, a pristine mess hall, and a well-organized mail sorting hall, the work can begin.
