Residents in the Wisconsin city where the late veteran Anna Mae Robertson lived for a significant fraction of her life are requesting that she be acknowledged following her death.

As Blavity reported, the former Women’s Army Corps soldier died at the age of 101 in May. The idea to commemorate her legacy and contribution to America’s armed forces is supported by U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore. On June 6, Moore introduced a bill to rename the Department of Veterans Affairs women’s health clinic in Milwaukee to the Anna Mae Robertson VA Well Woman Clinic.

Why does Moore hope to rename the VA Affairs hospital?

Robertson was one of the 855 women in the all-Black women’s unit, part of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, also known as the “Six Triple Eight.” The group of women was tasked with resolving the mailing backlog that arose during World War II. Additionally, they were the only Black women’s group deployed to Europe. Via their collaborative operational methods, Six Triple Eight mailed out 17 million letters in just three months; as such, fellow U.S. Army service members were able to reconnect with their loved ones via mail.

After Robertson’s time in the army, she moved to Milwaukee from Arkansas and became a nurse at Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center. Moore wanted to commemorate the significant role she and the assembly of women played in American history.

“It seemed appropriate to me that as a member of the storied ‘Six Triple Eight,’ and of course a member of the Milwaukee community who worked at Zablocki Veterans Center … to name the women’s health clinic in Milwaukee as the Anna Mae Robertson VA Well Women Clinic,” Moore shared with Wisconson Public Radio, according to Black Enterprise.

In a news release published online by the government official’s office, Moore stated that it was a no-brainer to celebrate Robertson because she had planted roots in Milwaukee. According to Afro News, she and her husband, fellow WWII veteran John Robertson, had eight children.

“This legislation honors the memory and service of Mrs. Anna Mae Robertson, who served our country honorably and called Milwaukee her home for decades. Through this effort, even more people will learn about her legacy and the incredible story of the Six Triple Eight,” Moore said, per the news release.

Honoring the heroes who are “Six Triple Eight”

In 2022, Biden passed the H.R. 1012, the “Six Triple Eight” Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2021. Moore submitted the bill to commemorate the significant role women played in American history and was backed by 296 of her colleagues. On April 29, 2025, one month before Robertson’s death, she received the medal during a ceremony in Emancipation Hall at the U.S. Capitol.

Robertson’s daughter, Sheree Robertson, agreed that the veteran’s affairs clinic being named after her mother would be the perfect way to keep to her name alive.

“I think it is only fitting that they name [the] women’s clinic after my mother, so everyone who goes to that clinic would know about my mother’s history, her life, the story of the Six Triple Eight,” Robertson told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in an interview.

The bill was referred to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs for the first stage of the review process and is under review.

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