How a tweet reminded a granddaughter that Cresencia Garcia, a member of the Six Triple Eight and a Congressional Gold Medalist for her service in World War II, was a hero

Using social media as a tool to celebrate the life of a grandmother, the family of a centenarian from New York who served abroad during World War II, has recaptured part of the national hero’s valiant history.

Cresencia Garcia, a feisty 102-year-old, served her company as a member of Six Triple Eight in one of the most intense wars in world history. This unit consisted of 855 women of African descent who were serving in Europe at the height of the war. During her time in the military, she was chosen because of her fair skin to serve as a medic and help some of the wounded soldiers in England.

As one of six surviving members of the unit, this story was only recently discovered, even by her family, after a news reporter tweeted his followers a feel-good story about Garcia’s victory over COVID-19 at the age of 100.

That one mention on Twitter sparked a plethora of miracles, leading to her family discovering that she had not only “served” in the military, but was a hero.

That year, Garcia was one of the living members of the unit that received the nation’s most prestigious honors for a hero.

According to retired Army Colonel Edna Cummings, Garcia and the sisters she served with received the same medal as that country’s first president — a fact the soldier’s granddaughter, Tara Garcia, was unaware of, reports CBS News .

Cummings shared, “You are the only women’s military unit to receive a gold medal from Congress. You belong to an elite group of fewer than 200 recipients. The first was General George Washington.”

Congress voted to honor women with the prestigious medal on the last day of Black History Month and voted unanimously (422-0) to award the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest expression of nationality Recognition of outstanding achievements and contributions made by Congress to individuals, institutions or groups.

The bill was sponsored by Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore in 2019 and mobilized 295 co-sponsors.

Rep. Moore said part of the reason she supported the law was the tremendous resilience that women possessed.

“Faced with both racism and sexism in a war zone, these women sorted millions of pieces of mail, cleared massive mail backlogs and made sure service members received letters from loved ones. A Congressional Gold Medal is only appropriate for those veterans who have received little recognition for their service upon returning home.”

The colonel-turned-historian said she saw the post about Garcia when he was blasted by CBS chief correspondent David Begnaud in celebration of her 100th birthday on April 18, 2020. In his caption, he mentioned that she served in the US Army in “England caring for wounded soldiers” during World War II.

When Cummings, who co-produced the documentary The Six Triple Eight, saw the tweet, she focused on the Bronx-born Puerto Rican immigrant’s uniform. She was excited, because if her suspicions were correct, she found an additional connection to a puzzle she’s been piecing together for years as curator of the unit’s legacy.

For Cummings, it was “like being in a casino and hitting the jackpot.”

The documentary maker reached out to Tara and asked her to share her grandmother’s dog tag numbers, which helped her unlock more information about her ministry, such as: B. where exactly she served.

Garcia’s unit was based in Birmingham, England. While most of the units were sorting the mail and developing a system to get the job done in a record-breaking time, Garcia was treating those at the incineration unit 30 kilometers away.

The family, Tara, and her parents also found that Garcia’s name was engraved on the memorial at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas that Cummings helped build.

In a recent interview with Begnaud, she spoke about being sent to Texas for basic training during Jim Crow’s.

She explained: “They put me in the black department and there is a white department. This is America for you. See? This is America to you and it’s very sad, very sad.”

Garcia also said she believed what she was doing was special, she was just helping people. She said: “It wasn’t much. I was just a paramedic. I was only there to take care of the pain. When they came in I took care of them.”

As a special surprise, the producers were able to present First Lady Dr. FaceTime Jill Biden and thank Garcia for his service.

As Garcia’s memory fades, she recognized Biden’s name and was excited to speak to her. She said, “Wow. my greetings to you, madam. You are the one who needs to be celebrated. You are an incredible woman and I cannot thank you enough for all your service to our country.”

“And I greet you. Keep it up. Keep up the good work,” Garcia told her, before the first lady replied, “I’m trying to follow in your footsteps. In your example.”

Tara was overwhelmed to tears that this level of honor she deserved finally touched her grandmother.

“The fact that she knew who that was. Yes, and she felt that validation right now,” she said. “That’s all I needed. I just want her to remember that.”

Garcia married Esteban Garcia II, another army veteran. The two raised three children in the Bronx, New York, and after military service, she worked as a seamstress and patternmaker in New York City’s Garment District.

When Begnaud thanked her for her service, Garcia graciously accepted his words and replied, “You’re welcome. I’m proud to be an American.”