Ms. Alyce Dixon joined the military in 1943 at 31 years old. She was among the first African American women in the Army. As a member of the Women's Army Corps, she was stationed in England and France where she played an important role in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion during World War II. Ms. Dixon often spoke about her experience in the 6888, remembering how vital it was to the morale of the troops to receive letters from their spouses, family members and friends. Like the other 844 women, Ms. Dixon worked hard, pressing through acts of discrimination, to sort through a three-year backlog of over 17 million pieces of mail. 

Ms. Dixon was assigned to the 6888th Battalion, established in 1945. The 6888th was the only unit of African American women in the WAC to serve overseas during the war. The battalion included just under 900 enlisted women and officers. It was commanded by Army Maj. Charity Adams Earley who, by the end of the war, was the highest-ranking African American woman in the military. 
 

According to Dixon, “None of the mail had been distributed during three battles when we arrived in Birmingham, England."  The women saw letters stacked to the ceiling of the building where they worked. Much of the mail had been there for as long as two years waiting to be sent to Soldiers in the field. "We had to sort through millions of letters and mail, including packages," said Dixon. "The general told us it would take six months to completely sort all that mail and we had it sorted and delivered in three months. We worked three shifts a day, seven days a week." 

Part of the difficulty with the work, Dixon recalled, was sorting mail to guarantee they were sent to the correct servicemember. "A lot of mothers wrote to 'Buster, U.S. Army,' or 'Junior, U.S. Army,'" said Dixon. "We knew every servicemember had a number and we had difficulty finding them, however, we found every person. Also, a lot of wives and sweethearts wrote to Soldiers every day. There were stacks and stacks of mail we had to send back indicating deceased. That was sad," she said.

"We had to fight mice and rats while sorting the mail," said Dixon. "People down south from Alabama were sending fried chicken and bread to Soldiers in France."

Resilient is an understatement when describing Alyce Dixon. She was born September 11, 1907 in Boston. Named Alice Lillian Ellis, she was the third oldest of nine children. Helping with the six siblings, who were younger, gave Dixon all the experience with raising children that she never wanted. "I never had a bicycle or skates or anything like that," Dixon said. "We were poor. I knew when I got married I didn't want any children, I've done it already."

When she was 16, after seeing the actress Alyce Mills in the movie "A Bride for a Knight," Dixon changed the spelling of her given name. "I thought it was pretty spelled differently, so I changed it."
 

Her family moved to Washington, DC in 1924. "My father was from here and we originally came to visit my grandmother and never left," she said. Dixon's life is full of experiences and memories, some good, some not so good.

Ms. Dixon left her mark on all who encountered her, and our DC VA Medical Center team is proud to have had the honor of providing her with quality care for many years. She was like family to many of the staff and friend to longtime residents. Thankfully, Ms. Dixon’s quotes and service memories live on through the Netflix movie, “The Six Triple Eight.” 

**Quotes contained in this article were extracted from interviews conducted in 2009 and 2011 by Sarah Cox, former Public Affairs Specialist and Gloria Hairston, Director, Office of Public Affairs & Community Relations at DC VA Medical Center.