The battalion was tasked with cleaning out the massive backlog filled with more than 17 million pieces of mail that left troops without any communications from their families for months.

"I am more than honored to be with you today to present the Six Triple Eight with our nation's highest civilian award, the long-awaited, much-sought-after Congressional Gold Medal," Cummings said. "The Six Triple Eight is now listed among the less than 200 recipients since General George Washington first received it in 1776."