G.I. is an informal term that refers to "a soldier in the United States armed forces, especially the army". [1] It is mostly deeply associated with World War II, [2] but continues to see use. [3]
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It was originally an initialism used in U.S. Army paperwork for items made of galvanized iron. [2] The earliest known instance in writing is from either 1906 [3] or 1907. [2]
During World War I, U.S. soldiers took to referring to heavy German artillery shells 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 man as a 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 in Yank, 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 and U.S. soldiers via the Armed Forces Radio Network.
"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. [3]
