G.I. — Mediated Wiki

{{short description|Informal term for U.S. military personnel}} {{About|the term for U.S. soldiers||GI (disambiguation){{!}}GI}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}} {{Use American English|date=May 2021}}  [[File:SC180577t.jpg|thumb|G.I.s from the [[25th Infantry Division (United States)|25th Infantry Division]] in the jungle of [[Vella Lavella]] during [[Operation Cartwheel]], 13 September 1943]] '''G.I.''' is an informal term which refers to members of the [[United States Armed Forces]], in particular the [[United States Army]].<ref name="collins">{{cite web|date=2019|title=G.I. Definition from CollinsDictionary.com|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/gi|access-date=11 November 2023|work=Collins Dictionary|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers Ltd and Penguin Random House LLC}}</ref> It is most deeply associated with [[World War II]]<ref name="wordorig" /> and the [[Korean War]],{{Citation needed|date=August 2025}} but continues to see use, for instance in the ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' comics, films, and toys franchise.<ref name="Rawson" /> It was originally an [[initialism]] used in U.S. Army paperwork for items made of [[Galvanization|galvanized]] iron.<ref name="wordorig">{{cite web|last=Wilton|first=Dave|date=2 February 2009|title=G.I. – Wordorigins.org|url=https://www.wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/gi|access-date=11 November 2023|website=Word Origins|publisher=Wordorigins.org}}</ref> The earliest known instance in writing is from either 1906<ref name="Rawson">{{cite web| first=Hugh | last=Rawson | url=https://www.americanheritage.com/why-do-we-say-gi | title=Why do we say "G.I."? | publisher=American Heritage | volume=57 | issue=2 | date=April–May 2006}}</ref> or 1907.<ref name="wordorig" /> During [[World War I]], U.S. soldiers took to referring to heavy German [[artillery]] [[Shell (projectile)|shells]] as "G.I. cans".<ref name="wordorig" /><ref name="Rawson" /> During the same war, "G.I.", reinterpreted as "government issue"<ref name="wordorig" /> or "general issue",<ref name="Rawson" /> began being used to refer to any item associated with the U.S. Army,<ref name="Rawson" /> ''e.g.'', "G.I. soap".<ref name="Rawson" /> Other reinterpretations of "G.I." include "garrison issue" and "general infantry".<ref name="Rawson" />

The earliest known recorded instances of "G.I." being used to refer to an American [[Enlisted rank|enlisted]] man as a [[slang]] term are from 1935.<ref name="wordorig" /> 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]] in ''[[Yank, the Army Weekly]]'', beginning in 1942.<ref name="wordorig" /> A 1944 radio drama, {{anchor|They_Call_Me_Joe20191201}}''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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rivas-Rodriguez |first1=Maggie |title=A Soldier's Story: World War II and the Forgotten Battle for the Aleutian Islands |date=11 November 2016 |url=http://www.kut.org/post/soldiers-story-world-war-ii-and-forgotten-battle-aleutian-islands |publisher=[[KUT|KUT (radio station)]] |access-date=29 September 2018}}</ref> ''They Call Me Joe'' reached civilians across the U.S. via the [[NBC Radio Network]] and U.S. soldiers via the [[Armed Forces Radio Network]]. [[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]] address.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/05/09/archives/eisenhower-hails-gijoe-as-hero-she-is-mighty-proud-of-her-son.html|title=Eisenhower Hails 'G.I Joe' As Hero. She Is Proud Of Her Nation|publisher=New York Times|date=May 9, 1945|accessdate=April 11, 2025}}</ref> "G.I. Jane" originally referred to a member of the [[Women's Army Corps]] during World War II, but more recently it is used to refer to any female American soldier.<ref name="Rawson" />

==See also== * [[Greatest Generation]], the social history of these veterans * [[Digger (soldier)]] – A similar term used in Australia * [[Doughboy]] * [[Dogface (military)]] * [[G.I. Bill]], postwar benefits for veterans * ''[[G.I. Blues]]'' (film) * [[G.I. Generation]] * ''[[G.I. Jane]]'' (film) * [[G.I. Joe (pigeon)]] – birds used in World War II * [[G.I. Joe (disambiguation)]] * ''[[The Story of G.I. Joe]]'' (1945 film) * [[Tommy Atkins]] (soldier) – British slang for a common soldier

== References == {{reflist}}

==Further reading== {{Wiktionary|GI}} * Cooke, James J. ''American girls, beer, and Glenn Miller: GI morale in World War II'' (University of Missouri Press, 2012) [https://books.google.com/books?id=yIYGzx8KIjsC&dq=GI+world+war&pg=PT13 online]. * Kennett, Lee B. ''GI: The American Soldier in World War II'' (University of Oklahoma Press, 1997) [https://books.google.com/books?id=6HtmLfmMuBEC&dq=GI+world+war&pg=PR7 online]. * Meyer, Leisa D. ''Creating GI Jane: Sexuality and power in the women's army corps during World War II'' (Columbia University Press, 1996) [https://books.google.com/books?id=74HbVPoawn0C&dq=GI+world+war&pg=PA1 online]. * Piehler, G. Kurt. ''A religious history of the American GI in World War II'' (U of Nebraska Press, 2021) [https://books.google.com/books?id=271FEAAAQBAJ&dq=GI+world+war&pg=PA397 online]. * 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. [https://doi.org/10.2307/3092347 online]

===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.. * [[Ernie Pyle|Pyle, Ernie]] ''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 [https://books.google.com/books?id=ef73ROVaoooC&dq=ernie+pyle&pg=PA1 online]. * Shapiro, Lisa K. ''No Forgotten Fronts: From Classrooms to Combat'' (Naval Institute Press, 2018) ISBN 9781682472729. Letters from GIs to college professor; primary sources; [https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=58913 online book review]

[[Category:1900s neologisms]] [[Category:Initialisms]] [[Category:Military terminology of the United States]] [[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II| ]]