The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was the first and only unit of its kind: the only Women’s Army Corps unit of color to serve in Europe during World War II. Composed of over eight hundred soldiers, the unit was handed a seemingly impossible mission of delivering hope to soldiers and their families in the form of 17 million pieces of mail, with no expectations or infrastructure to succeed. The battalion is of great fascination and importance for filmmaker Tyler Perry, who brings the story of the unsung heroes to the screen for the first time in The Six Triple Eight.

“I had never heard this story about these incredible women and what they have done, what they have endured. We’ve been charged with carrying their story to the world,” explains Perry. “We are representing real people who went to war, came back, and were dismissed.” The historical drama revisits a time when women, especially women of color, had nothing but barriers placed in front of them, yet under the leadership of Major Charity Adams, played by Kerry Washington, the women were committed to the cause, even under the most demeaning working conditions. With his latest film, Perry says, “We have an opportunity to honor them.”

The filmmaking team felt honoring the women’s experience was more than overdue, as it has been eight decades since the unit landed on foreign soil. “I first heard about the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion when I was a young girl because my mom told me about Major Charity Adams,” says producer Nicole Avant. “To me, the women of the real-life battalion represent grit, gratitude, and grace. They represent the best of America. These women believed in a bigger picture, and they understood that they may not ever receive any accolades for the fruits of their labor, but they understood the greater good.”

Washington, who also executive-produces the title, was last directed by Perry almost 15 years ago on the film adaptation of For Colored Girls, and The Six Triple Eight proved to be the perfect opportunity to reconnect. In addition to reuniting Perry with Washington, The Six Triple Eight welcomes screen legends Susan Sarandon, Sam Waterston, and Oprah Winfrey into the director’s company.

The women of the 6888th Battalion were of great interest to Washington, too, as she had only just discovered the story of Major Adams when Perry approached her with the project. Throughout filming in Georgia and England, Washington recalls moments and coincidences where the production felt connected to the battalion, like when a member of the crew, while on a trip to procure army vehicles from the period,  discovered a trunk of Major Adams’s belongings and memorabilia. “I felt like these women were with us in this process,” says the actor and producer. “Things happened again and again where we would just have this sense that these women were so happy that we were honoring them.”