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Below is a list of abbreviations and acronyms which you may come across while researching a soldier who served in the Second World War. This list is by no means complete and also includes abbreviations and acronyms found both before and after the war.
Nov 11, 2013 · Here’s a list of some of the soldiers’ language that they saw emerging during and immediately after the war. In October 1941, the journal republished part of a “Glossary of Army Slang ...
- Rebecca Onion
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- HISTORY Vault: World War I Documentaries
The origins of this popular nickname are somewhat murky. A popular theory links the term to the early 20th century, when “G.I.” was stamped on military trash cans and buckets. The two-letter abbreviation stood for the material from which these items were made: galvanized iron.
Later, the definition of GI broadened and during World War I it was used to refer to all things Army-related, according to “Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language” by Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman. When this happened, GI was reinterpreted as “government issue” or “general issue.”
G.I. Bill
The prevalence of the term led soldiers in World War II to start referring to themselves as GIs. Some servicemen used it as a sarcastic reference symbolizing their belief that they were just mass-produced products of the government.
During the war, GI Joe also became a term for U.S. soldiers. Cartoonist Dave Breger, who was drafted into the Army in 1941, is credited with coining the name with his comic strip titled “G.I. Joe,” which he published in a weekly military magazine called Yank, beginning in 1942. In 1964, U.S. toy company Hasbro, after taking note of competitor Mattel’s huge success with the Barbie doll (launched in 1959), debuted “G.I. Joe,” a military-themed line of action figures for boys.
Meanwhile, in June 1944, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, which became commonly known as the GI Bill. The famous legislation provided a range of benefits for returning World War II veterans, including funding for college, home loans and unemployment insurance.
- Elizabeth Nix
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Dec 1, 2022 · The American Soldier in World War II is a massive National Endowment for the Humanities–funded history project ($350k grant) that sheds new light on one of the most important conflicts in U.S. history, bringing together primary sources and secondary sources to create a high-quality, multifaceted academic work: it is at once an archival trove ...
Guides to military terminology in World War II: ranks, acronyms, abbreviations, slang, places, and special terms of the Army Research Branch.
The Citizen-Soldier. Before World War II, the US government had never instituted military conscription while not at war. Americans have objected to standing armies going back to the garrisoning of British troops in colonial Boston.
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World War II (1939–1945) Key Terms. Terms. Allied Powers. An alliance during World War II made up of the countries that opposed the aggression of Nazi Germany. Britain, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union were the most prominent members, although many other countries also joined. Anschluss.
