DAYTON, Ohio — A new Netflix movie showcases one of Ohio’s own, who made history through a special Army battalion called the Six Triple Eight.

What You Need To Know

  • A new Tyler Perry movie on Netflix called the "Six Triple Eight" tells the story of the first Black women's Army battalion to go to WWII

  • The movie was based in part on Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley from Dayton
  • Her two children still remember the stories she told

  • Other Hollywood actors have shown interest in the story and are working on turning into a Broadway musical

The "Six Triple Eight," a new movie on Netflix, shows how the Army battalion paved the way for equal rights. They were the first Black women’s Army battalion to go to World War II. 

But Judy Earley doesn’t need a movie because it was based in part on her mom, Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley from Dayton, Ohio.

Her mom’s World War II uniform, pictures and plaques are what she has left of her. She died in 2002 before ever telling Judy everything.

“We didn’t talk about it much when I was growing up,” said Judy. “My parents were out of the military. They were out 13 years before I was born."

But her older brother, Stanley Earley, remembers some of the stories.

“One of the things I remember early on, my mother describing her Six Triple Eight experiences, was being on that plane and that she was not going to be the first person to open her orders,” said Stanley.

Her orders were to lead the Six Triple Eight through what seemed like an impossible task. They had to deliver 17 million of pieces of mail in the middle of a war.

“Every four-tenths of a second a piece of mail was going out, no computers, no sorting machines, just by hand, that’s just inspiring,” said Stanley Earley. 

The crew delivered years of backlogged mail in three months, but they weren’t only up against the clock, but racism.

“Segregated hotels, when they traveled around the U.K., and they refused to use them, and she was adamant about that,” said Stanely.

Their mom detailed those stories through her autobiography "One Woman’s Army."

“It was from that book that I learned some of the stories and some of the experiences that she went through,” said Judy. “She was trying to fight for the system to be equal.”

After the war, she said her mom came back to Dayton, where she’d previously went to college and met their dad at Wilberforce University.

She fought segregation in schools in Ohio and became an advocate in the community, but it took decades before Charity and the Six Triple Eight would be recognized.

“At the time, Black units and women in general were just not recognized. In general, not universally, but in general, African-American units did not get unit citations,” said Stanley. 

Now, there’s a Dayton school, awards and Army posts named in honor of Charity and the unit she ran, plus a new movie — Six Triple Eight — that they say is keeping her legacy and message alive.

“With the same resources and training, she felt she could do what anyone could do,” said Stanley. 

“(She would say) If they can accomplish that, I can accomplish whatever it is I’m called to do,” said Judy.

The "Six Triple Eight" movie on Netflix was written and directed by Tyler Perry. The Earleys say there has also been interest from other Hollywood actors who are working on turning their mother’s story and the "Six Triple Eight" into a Broadway musical.