Bennett was born in Madison County, FL in August of 1920. She was an education major in college when America entered the Second World War, and when she heard about the WAC she was eager to enlist. She later recalled, “I wanted to prove to myself, and maybe to the world, that we [African Americans] would give what we had back to the United States as a confirmation that we were full-fledged citizens.”
The Six Triple Eight’s mission in Europe was to deal with a backlog of soldier mail that had been amassing since the invasion of Normandy. Bennett and her comrades were placed in three different eight-hour shifts, working 24 hours a day until the backlog was eliminated. Years later she proudly reminisced:
“We were there to serve our country. We were there with a responsibility. After working with that mail all day, you were so doggoned tired you were really glad to pile in your bunk and wait until six o'clock the next morning to get up and do the same thing all over again.”
The 6888th’s motto was, “No mail, low morale,” and they worked as consummate professionals, knowing that if they weren’t diligent it would justify the continuation of racist policies back home. 
After the war Elaine remained proud of what she and her fellow WACs accomplished. She later went back to college, got married, and got a job at what is now the Department of Veterans Affairs.


ELAINE S BENNETT

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