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G.I. are initials used to describe the
G.I. are initials used to describe the soldier
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer.
Etymology
The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...
s of the United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
and airmen of the United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
and general items of their equipment. The term G.I. has been used as an initialism of "Government Issue", "General Issue", or "Ground Infantry", and was used by the logistics
Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...
services of the United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...
.
During World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, American soldiers sardonically referred to incoming German artillery shells as "G.I. cans". Also during that war, "G.I." started being interpreted as "Government Issue" or "General Issue" for the general items of equipment of soldiers and airmen. The term "G.I." came into widespread use in the United States with the start of the Selective Service System ("the draft") in 1940, extending into 1941. It gradually replaced the term "Doughboy
Doughboy was a popular nickname for the American infantryman during World War I. Though the origins of the term are not certain, the nickname was still in use as of the early 1940s. Examples include the 1942 song "Johnny Doughboy Found a Rose in ...
" that was used in World War I and the use of "G.I." expanded from 1942 through 1945. American five-star General
A five-star rank is the highest military rank in many countries.Oxford English Dictionary (OED), 2nd Edition, 1989. "five" ... "five-star adj., ... (b) U.S., applied to a general or admiral whose badge of rank includes five stars;" The rank is t ...
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
said in 1945 that "the truly heroic figure of this war sG.I. Joe and his counterpart in the air, the navy, and the Merchant Marine of every one of the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
".
"G.I." was also used as an adjective for anything having to do with the U.S. Army or Army Air Forces.
''They Call Me Joe'' was a series of radio dramas aired in 1944. Each episode focused on a different fictional American soldier. A soldier of a different national or ethnic origin was selected for each episode, but he was always identified as a G.I. named Joe. The series was intended to encourage Americans of varying backgrounds to cooperate to win World War II. It was produced by the NBC University of the Air, which also produced a series The World's Great Novels. The series ran for twelve weeks and aired both on the NBC Radio Network and the Armed Forces Radio Network
The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...
.
"G.I. Joe
''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), Ac ...
", an action figure, was introduced by Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...
in 1964. Its name comes from the term used to describe soldiers during the war.
In British military parlance and in armed forces modelled on British military traditions, G.I. refers to a Gunnery Instructor (generally an NCO responsible for inducting and training recruits).
See also
*Digger (soldier)
Digger is a military slang term for primarily infantry soldiers from Australia and New Zealand. Evidence of its use has been found in those countries as early as the 1850s, but its current usage in a military context did not become prominent un ...
– A similar term used in Australia
* Dogface (military)
Dogface is a nickname for a United States Army soldier, especially an enlisted infantryman. The term gained widespread use during World War II.
History
The term "dogface" to describe an American soldier appeared in print at least as early as ...
* Folk etymology
* G.I. Bill
The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...
* ''G.I. Blues
''G.I. Blues'' is a 1960 American musical comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Elvis Presley and Juliet Prowse. The movie was filmed at Paramount Pictures studio, with some pre-production scenery shot on location in Germany before Pr ...
'' (film)
* G.I. Generation
* ''G.I. Jane
''G.I. Jane'' is a 1997 American war drama film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Demi Moore, Viggo Mortensen, and Anne Bancroft. The film tells the fictional story of the first woman to undergo special operations training similar to the ...
'' (film)
* G.I. Jill – disk jockey for the WW II program ''G.I Jive''
* G.I. Joe (pigeon) – a pigeon who served in World War II
* G.I. Joe (disambiguation)
* G-Man (slang)
''G-man'' (short for "government man", plural ''G-men'') is an American slang term for special agent, agents of the United States Government. It is especially used as a term for an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
''G-man'' i ...
* '' The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945 film)
* Tommy Atkins
Tommy Atkins (often just Tommy) is slang for a common soldier in the British Army. It was certainly well established during the nineteenth century, but is particularly associated with the First World War. It can be used as a term of reference ...
(soldier) – British slang for a common soldier
* Mehmetçik
''Mehmetçik'' (, "little" here denoting diminutive endearment rather than actual age) is a term generally used to affectionately refer to soldiers of the Turkish Army. It is similar to the colloquialisms ''Tommy Atkins'', ''Doughboy'', and '' D ...
(soldier) – Turkish slang for a common soldier
References
External links
* {{Wiktionary-inline, GI Initialisms Military terminology of the United States