GI (soldier)
GI [ dʒiːˈaɪ ], also GI , is a name for a simple soldier in the armed forces of the United States of America .
The name originated between 1915 and 1920; US infantrymen had previously been referred to as doughboys . This term was particularly widespread during the Second World War and the Vietnam War . The origin of the abbreviation is likely to be found in the metal trash cans used by the US Army at the time, on which GI (for English Galvanized Iron " galvanized iron ") was stamped. The abbreviation for Government Issue was later assumed and applied to the soldiers.
While the term was originally used primarily for team ranks, in Germany after the Second World War it became a synonym for all members of the US troops stationed in Germany.
Other meanings - later ascribed to the abbreviation - are General Infantry , Ground Infantry , General Invasion, and Government Inductee .
See also
- Doughboy : obsolete, slang term for a US soldier
- Landser : slang term for a German soldier
- Poilu : in France , a slang term for a French soldier, during the First World War
- Tommy : slang term for a British soldier
Individual evidence
- ↑ the definition of gi. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 26, 2006 ; accessed on October 16, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Maulucci, Thomas W., Junker, Detlef ,: GIs in Germany: the social, economic, cultural, and political history of the American military presence . Cambridge Univ. Press, New York 2013, ISBN 978-0-521-85133-6 (English).
