WASHINGTON — The only all-Black, all-female Army battalion to serve in Europe during World War II was awarded Congress’ highest honor Tuesday, in a celebration of the type of diversity that has come under assault by the Trump administration.

The unit, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion — known as the Six Triple Eight — deployed to England in 1945 to clear a backlog of 17 million letters and packages..

The members of the 855-woman battalion were given six months to complete the mission. They finished in three, working around the clock, processing up to 65,000 pieces of mail in each eight-hour shift and creating a card-based index of more than 7 million military serial numbers to ensure that mail addressed to people with similar names would go to the correct recipient.

Today, the battalion has only two surviving members: Fanny McClendon, 101, and Anna Mae Robertson, 104. While they watched from home, about 300 descendants of members of the battalion gathered to witness a ceremony honoring the unit’s legacy.

— The New York Times