Reception: 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. CT | Event: 5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. CT

This event is free and open to the public. Register today to join us in person or to view the event online.

Join us in conversation with retired US Army Colonel Edna W. Cummings, whose memoir A Soldier’s Life: A Black Woman’s Rise from Army Brat to Six Triple Eight Champion chronicles her personal journey in the US military and her triumphant effort to honor her WWII predecessors with the Congressional Gold Medal.

A reception from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. will precede the event, and Cummings will sign copies of her book following the presentation. Preorder your copy from the Museum Store.

For additional information, please email Connie Gentry, Conference and Programs Manager, at connie.gentry@nationalww2museum.org.

About A Soldier’s Life
Looking back on her remarkable career, retired US Army Colonel Edna W. Cummings can justly say that “the odds ain’t good, but good stuff happens.” Her story is as inspiring as it is improbable, but her memoir is about much more than herself. Chronicling her unlikely but successful path to leadership roles in the Army and afterward, Cummings also tells the story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, known as the Six Triple Eight—a trailblazing African American WWII Women’s Army Corps unit now the subject of a Netflix film and a Broadway-bound musical—and the grassroots campaign Cummings led to honor them. In 2022, due in large part to Cummings’s efforts, the Six Triple Eight was awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor: the Congressional Gold Medal. Among the fewer than 200 recipients, including the crew of Apollo 11 and the Navajo Code Talkers, the Six Triple Eight is the only women’s unit to receive this prestigious decoration. In A Soldier’s Life, Cummings narrates her path from childhood to advocate and how she overcame incredible odds not only for herself but on behalf of those who had come before her.

About the Author
Edna Cummings is a retired US Army Colonel and consultant. She became the first Black woman commissioned through Appalachian State University’s ROTC program and served a distinguished, highly decorated 25-year military career. As a contractor, she managed federal initiatives in homeland security and information technology. Cummings is renowned for championing recognition of the WWII all-Black Women’s Army Corps unit, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, ultimately securing the unit’s Congressional Gold Medal in 2022. She continues advancing military awareness through various leadership roles and contributions, including establishing a scholarship fund for veterans. Cummings continues to serve and has earned numerous awards and honors for her work.