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G.I.s from the 25th Infantry Division in the jungle of Vella Lavella in the Solomon Islands, during Operation Cartwheel on 13 September 1943. G.I. is an informal term that refers to "a soldier in the United States armed forces, especially the army". [1]
The G.I. movement was the resistance to military involvement in the Vietnam War from active duty soldiers in the United States military. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Within the military popular forms of resistance included combat refusals, fragging , and desertion .
As time went on the real rebel GIs and veterans of the Vietnam war would be "pushed out of memory" by the mythical "good" GI Joe like figures who had been spit on by the "bad" antiwar activists. New U.S. soldiers would rarely, if ever, read or hear about their rebel predecessor. [49]
Why did the American GIs turn against the war in such numbers? The fact was, the U.S. military was defeated on the battlefield, and the GIs understood this more than anyone. As mentioned above, Cortright provides convincing evidence that it was the soldiers "with direct combat experience" who were the most committed antiwar activists.
"Over the top" – close-up of a doughboy in full combat dress "Doughboy" was a popular nickname for the American infantryman during World War I. [1] Though the origins of the term are not certain, [2] the nickname was still in use as of the early 1940s, when it was gradually replaced by "G.I." as the following generation enlisted in World War II [3] [4]
The term "dogface" to describe an American soldier appeared in print at least as early as 1935. [5] [6] Contemporaneous newspapers accounted for the nickname by explaining that soldiers "wear dog-tags, sleep in pup tents, and are always growling about something" and "the army is a dog's life...and when they want us, they whistle for us."
These Amerasians were fathered by US soldiers who took part in the Vietnam War. [39] At the height of the Vietnam War, 50,000 GIs were based in Thailand. [40] The Pearl S. Buck Foundation estimated around 5,000-8,000 Thai Amerasians. Some migrated to the United States under the 1982 Amerasian Immigration Act. An unknown number were left behind ...
Harry W. Colmery, Republican National Committee chairman and a former National Commander of the American Legion, is credited with writing the first draft of the G.I. Bill. [17] [18] He reportedly jotted down his ideas on stationery and a napkin at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. [18] A group of 8 from the Salem, Illinois American Legion ...