In the 2nd World War why were american soldiers called G.I.?

Question

In the book "Is Paris Burning?" by Larry Collins & Dominique Lapierre,i found that the american soldiers were adderesed as G.I. .Why?

Answer 1

Government Issue

Answer 2

Government Issue

Answer 3

"...derived from the designation "government issue."

G.I. is a World War II term that two generations later continues to conjure up the warmest and proudest memories of a noble war that pitted pure good against pure evil — and good triumphed. The victors in that war were the American G.I.s, the Willies and Joes, the farmer from Iowa and the steelworker from Pittsburgh who stepped off a landing craft into the hell of Omaha Beach."

Read the rest of this excellent essay by the Joint Chief of Staff at TIME Magazine http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/gi01.html

Answer 4

Below are two explanations.

The term 'GI' as used in reference to American soldiers came about during World War II. Canteens and other products given to American troops were stamped 'GI' for 'Galvanized Iron.' However, the initials were mistakenly assumed to stand for 'Government Issue' or 'General Issue,' and the term 'GI' became the nickname for the American soldier.

OR

GI was originally an abbreviation for "galvanized iron", a US army clerks' term for items such as trash cans, but it was later taken to be an abbreviation for "general issue" or "government issue", and extended to include all articles issued in conformity with US military regulations or procedures and finally soldiers themselves ("general infantry").

Answer 5

Government Issue apparently!

Answer 6

Government Issue.

It means soldiers belong to the government. I had a friend who got put on report for getting a sunburn when he was in bootcamp. He got written up for "destruction of government property" for getting a sunburn on his own body.

Answer 7

as a viet nam veteran, i will inform you that g i potential government project. we've been issued each and every thing from cleansing soap and toothbrushes to socks for our ft. even our shoes have been given to us. we did no longer could use the gov't project products, we've been allowed to purchase our very own clothing and aspects etc. in spite of the shown fact that, whilst we did use our very own funds for garments, in this occasion, shall we've them adapted slightly. government clothing grew to become into and is dishevelled, greater like one length suits all. we nevertheless are reported as g i's, an acronym i'm proud to endure. i'm hoping this facilitates.

Answer 8

Goverment Issue - - - a term applied to their gear became an amusing way to refer to soldiers. It sounded a lot better than World War One's Doughboys ....
Though some use the term - - - General Issue, among others, most of the histories I have read go with Goverment Issue with the understandingt that the Goverment doing the issuing os the greatest ever and so no one should be offended...

http://delanceyplace.blogspot.com/2006/04/delanceyplace_09.html
"""Delanceyplace.com 04/11/06-the term G.I.

In today's excerpt, origin of the term G.I., and the difficulty of determining origins:

"Col. Roger O. Egeberg, stepped on a semantic land mine when he casually referred to MacArthur's troops as G.I.s. The general immediately exploded: "Don't ever do that in my presence...G.I. means 'general issue.' Call them soldiers."

While General MacArthur took G.I. to mean general issue, the term also has been interpreted over the years as standing for garrison issue, government issue, general infantry, and galvanized iron. And as it happens, the last, which might seem to be the least likely, is the true progenitor.

G.I. appears in Army inventories of galvanized iron trash cans and buckets from the early twentieth century...During World War I it was extended to include heavy German artillery and large bombs, while G.I. itself began to be applied in the MacArthurian sense of general issue to such items as G.I. shoes, G.I. soap and G.I. brushes. Soldiers probably began referring to themselves as G.I.s during this war...but no examples have been found in writing prior to 1935...The transition from trash can to soldiers may have been aided by the roughness and toughness of galvanized iron."

American Heritage, History Now, May 2006, p. 16""

while Wikipedia goes for total debunking (and I must confess I don't like the trashcan reference)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_(term)
"""GI or G.I. is a term describing a member of the US armed forces or an item of their equipment. It may be used as an adjective or as a noun. The term is often thought to be an initialism of "Government Issue" but the origin of the term is in fact galvanized iron after the letters "GI" that used to denote equipment such as metal trash cans made from it in U.S. Army inventories and supply records. [1][2] During World War I, US soldiers sardonically referred to incoming German artillery shells as "GI cans". During World War I it was somehow assumed that GI stood for Government Issue and the term was applied to all military equipment and the soldiers themselves. The term reached even farther use as its usage spread with the American troops during World War II.

Alternative interpretations include General Issue, General Infantry, General Inspector, Ground Infantry, General Invasion, Government Inductee, and Gastrointestinal (a reference to problems claimed to come from the poor quality of the food the army provided its soldiers, probably a joke).""



Peace....