Some students of military words have another explanation of GI.
They say that instead of government issue or general issue, GI came from the words galvanized iron.
The American soldier was said to be like galvanized iron, a material produced for special strength.
The dictionary of soldier talk says GI was used for the words galvanized iron in a publication about the vehicles of the early 20th century.
Today a doughboy or GI may be called a grunt.
Nobody is sure of the exact beginning of the word, but the best idea probably is that the name comes from the sound that troops make when ordered to march long distances carrying heavy equipment.
A member of the United States Marines also has a strange name---leatherneck.
It is thought to have started in the 1800s. Some say the name comes from the thick collars of leather; early marines wore around their necks to protect them from cuts during battles.
Others say the sun burned the marines' necks until their skin looked like leather.
