PHOENIX (KNXV) – Snow, rain and heat can’t stop the mail. Neither can war.
That’s something that Maj. Fannie Griffin-McClendon knows personally, as even World War II couldn’t keep her from her duty.
Not even a broken hip for the 104-year-old could keep her from hitting the road for an event held in her honor.
For her, that honor is for all of the ladies of the Six Triple Eight.
“What do I want them to remember? That is the work that the women did to get the mail out to the troops all over the world,” Griffin-McClendon said.
Griffin-McClendon is now the last surviving member of the legendary unit.
The all-Black female battalion cleared a massive backlog of wartime mail, restoring connection, lifting spirits and providing their motto true: “No Mail, No Morale.”
“They told us all about how people were concerned about not getting mail, so the girls were going to see to it that they did,” Griffin-McClendon said.
For decades, their story was overlooked.
However, recently, from a Netflix film to national recognition, their service is finally in the spotlight.
The Phoenix VA did exactly that Thursday in Memorial Hall at Steel Indian School Park.
“You know the greatest generation as they’re known, the World War II generation, that living history is going to come to an end here soon,” Elijah Ditter with the VA said. “And to make sure we are doing everything we can do as VA to honor them in this moment and the future is what we need to do.”
The VA unveiled a bronze plaque for Griffin-McClendon, Arizona’s very own trailblazer.
“They said give me my flowers while I’m living, so that’s what they’re doing,” Griffin-McClendon said.
When the curtain dropped, so did the tears.
What may look like a plaque is really a promise that Griffin-McClendon’s remarkable legacy will keep delivering long after the last letter.
“It’s amazing, because I didn’t expect anything like this,” she said.
As of last year, about 66,000 World War II veterans were still living out of 16.4 million who served.
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