MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – A 102-year-old Montgomery woman will receive will receive the Congressional Gold Medal. It’s the highest civilian honor bestowed by the United States Congress.
Romay Davis is the oldest living member of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion
“This was a battalion of 855 women who our United States military called upon to go forward in World War II and resolve the crisis of mail. There were 17 million pieces of mail that were trapped in a France warehouse, and so those serving on the front lines weren’t connected with their loved ones back home,” says Maxwell Air Force Base Commander Eries Mentzer.
In less than three months, the unit resolved the mail crisis. It’s for that work that Davis is being recognized. Mentzer will present Davis with the award.
“I recognize that my path to service and the path for so many other women and so many other minorities were paved by women like Romay Davis,” Mentzer said.
After her service with the 6888th, Davis went on to become a leader in the fashion industry in New York, got her black belt when she was 80, and continued to work until at a Winn Dixie in Montgomery after she turned 100.
Mentzer says Davis is an inspiration to many.
“When she served in 6888th battalion, she served in a segregated unit, and while she worked to resolve that crisis of mail, along with 854 other women, they faced right racism and sexism and in deplorable conditions in that warehouse, but yet they served their nation.”
Davis will receive her Congressional Gold Medal Tuesday, the 74th anniversary of the executive order that integrated the armed forces.
You can send a message of thanks and congratulations to Davis here.
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