G.I.

is an informal term that refers to "a soldier in the United States armed forces, especially the army".

[3] It was originally an initialism used in U.S. Army paperwork for items made of galvanized iron.

[2] During World War I, U.S. soldiers took to referring to heavy German artillery shells as "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.