# G.I.

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/G.I.
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/G.I..md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I.
> Source revision: 1354767483
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Informal term for U.S. military personnel

This article is about the term for U.S. soldiers. For other uses, see [GI](/source/GI_(disambiguation)).

G.I.s from the [25th Infantry Division](/source/25th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)) in the jungle of [Vella Lavella](/source/Vella_Lavella) during [Operation Cartwheel](/source/Operation_Cartwheel), 13 September 1943

**G.I.** is an informal term which refers to members of the [United States Armed Forces](/source/United_States_Armed_Forces), in particular the [United States Army](/source/United_States_Army).[1] It is most deeply associated with [World War II](/source/World_War_II)[2] and the [Korean War](/source/Korean_War),[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] but continues to see use, for instance in the *[G.I. Joe](/source/G.I._Joe)* comics, films, and toys franchise.[3] It was originally an [initialism](/source/Initialism) used in U.S. Army paperwork for items made of [galvanized](/source/Galvanization) iron.[2] The earliest known instance in writing is from either 1906[3] or 1907.[2] During [World War I](/source/World_War_I), U.S. soldiers took to referring to heavy German [artillery](/source/Artillery) [shells](/source/Shell_(projectile)) as "G.I. cans".[2][3] During the same war, "G.I.", reinterpreted as "government issue"[2] or "general issue",[3] began being used to refer to any item associated with the U.S. Army,[3] *e.g.*, "G.I. soap".[3] Other reinterpretations of "G.I." include "garrison issue" and "general infantry".[3]

The earliest known recorded instances of "G.I." being used to refer to an American [enlisted](/source/Enlisted_rank) man as a [slang](/source/Slang) term are from 1935.[2] In the form of "G.I. Joe" it was made better known due to it being taken as the title of a comic strip by [Dave Breger](/source/Dave_Breger) in *[Yank, the Army Weekly](/source/Yank%2C_the_Army_Weekly)*, beginning in 1942.[2] A 1944 radio drama, *They Call Me Joe*, reached a much broader audience. It featured a different individual each week, thereby emphasizing that "G.I. Joe" encompassed U.S. soldiers of all ethnicities.[4] *They Call Me Joe* reached civilians across the U.S. via the [NBC Radio Network](/source/NBC_Radio_Network) and U.S. soldiers via the [Armed Forces Radio Network](/source/Armed_Forces_Radio_Network). [Dwight D. Eisenhower](/source/Dwight_D._Eisenhower) would notably reference the term "G.I. Joe," who he described as the main hero of World War II, in his May 1945 [Victory in Europe Day](/source/Victory_in_Europe_Day) address.[5] "G.I. Jane" originally referred to a member of the [Women's Army Corps](/source/Women's_Army_Corps) during World War II, but more recently it is used to refer to any female American soldier.[3]

## See also

- [Greatest Generation](/source/Greatest_Generation), the social history of these veterans

- [Digger (soldier)](/source/Digger_(soldier)) – A similar term used in Australia

- [Doughboy](/source/Doughboy)

- [Dogface (military)](/source/Dogface_(military))

- [G.I. Bill](/source/G.I._Bill), postwar benefits for veterans

- *[G.I. Blues](/source/G.I._Blues)* (film)

- [G.I. Generation](/source/G.I._Generation)

- *[G.I. Jane](/source/G.I._Jane)* (film)

- [G.I. Joe (pigeon)](/source/G.I._Joe_(pigeon)) – birds used in World War II

- [G.I. Joe (disambiguation)](/source/G.I._Joe_(disambiguation))

- *[The Story of G.I. Joe](/source/The_Story_of_G.I._Joe)* (1945 film)

- [Tommy Atkins](/source/Tommy_Atkins) (soldier) – British slang for a common soldier

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-collins_1-0)** ["G.I. Definition from CollinsDictionary.com"](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/gi). *Collins Dictionary*. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd and Penguin Random House LLC. 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2023.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-wordorig_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-wordorig_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-wordorig_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-wordorig_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-wordorig_2-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-wordorig_2-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-wordorig_2-6) Wilton, Dave (2 February 2009). ["G.I. – Wordorigins.org"](https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/gi). *Word Origins*. Wordorigins.org. Retrieved 11 November 2023.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Rawson_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Rawson_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Rawson_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Rawson_3-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Rawson_3-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Rawson_3-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Rawson_3-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-Rawson_3-7) Rawson, Hugh (April–May 2006). ["Why do we say "G.I."?"](https://www.americanheritage.com/why-do-we-say-gi). American Heritage.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Rivas-Rodriguez, Maggie (11 November 2016). ["A Soldier's Story: World War II and the Forgotten Battle for the Aleutian Islands"](http://www.kut.org/post/soldiers-story-world-war-ii-and-forgotten-battle-aleutian-islands). [KUT (radio station)](/source/KUT). Retrieved 29 September 2018.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Eisenhower Hails 'G.I Joe' As Hero. She Is Proud Of Her Nation"](https://www.nytimes.com/1945/05/09/archives/eisenhower-hails-gijoe-as-hero-she-is-mighty-proud-of-her-son.html). New York Times. 9 May 1945. Retrieved 11 April 2025.

## Further reading

Look up ***[GI](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/GI)*** in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

- Cooke, James J. *American girls, beer, and Glenn Miller: GI morale in World War II* (University of Missouri Press, 2012) [online](https://books.google.com/books?id=yIYGzx8KIjsC&dq=GI+world+war&pg=PT13).

- Kennett, Lee B. *GI: The American Soldier in World War II* (University of Oklahoma Press, 1997) [online](https://books.google.com/books?id=6HtmLfmMuBEC&dq=GI+world+war&pg=PR7).

- Meyer, Leisa D. *Creating GI Jane: Sexuality and power in the women's army corps during World War II* (Columbia University Press, 1996) [online](https://books.google.com/books?id=74HbVPoawn0C&dq=GI+world+war&pg=PA1).

- Piehler, G. Kurt. *A religious history of the American GI in World War II* (U of Nebraska Press, 2021) [online](https://books.google.com/books?id=271FEAAAQBAJ&dq=GI+world+war&pg=PA397).

- Sklaroff, Lauren Rebecca. "Constructing GI Joe Louis: Cultural solutions to the “Negro problem” during World War II." *Journal of American History* 89.3 (2002): 958-983. [online](https://doi.org/10.2307/3092347)

### Primary sources

- McGuire, Phillip, ed. *Taps for a Jim Crow Army: Letters from Black Soldiers in World War II* (University Press of Kentucky, 1993). ISBN 0-8131-0822-5..

- [Pyle, Ernie](/source/Ernie_Pyle) *Here is your war: story of GI Joe* (U of Nebraska Press, 2004) reprint of newspaper essays by famous war correspondent who focused on soldiers' life [online](https://books.google.com/books?id=ef73ROVaoooC&dq=ernie+pyle&pg=PA1).

- Shapiro, Lisa K. *No Forgotten Fronts: From Classrooms to Combat* (Naval Institute Press, 2018) ISBN 9781682472729. Letters from GIs to college professor; primary sources; [online book review](https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=58913)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [G.I.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I.) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I.?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.