Coretta Scott King once said, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members,” and this is demonstrated here in Baton Rouge through the generosity of our soldier supporters and corporate sponsors.

Cox-Communications Southeast Grant

Cox’s Communications‘ slogan is “bringing us closer,,” and their recent grant of $2500 to BR Soldier Outreach does just that. Through their generosity, deployed soldiers overseas will be brought just a little bit closer to home with the care packages we can send them overseas.

We can’t say thank you enough!

National Hug a GI Day

As if their generous grant wasn’t enough, the team at Cox did some research and found that March 4 is National Hug a GI Day.

Once they found this out, they did what they do, “bring(ing) us together,” and created a virtual card for us to send to our 13 soldiers deployed worldwide. We will also be including a printed copy of the card in their boxes with our upcoming shipment.

View and share the virtual card.

The Origins Of The Term “G.I.”

The abbreviation “G.I.” used to stand for “government issue”, “ground infantry”, and was later used as shorthand to refer to any male person serving in uniform.

br soldier outreach cox communications grant 2021

There are those who may think only of Army troops when using the term, but the truth is that it’s evolved into more of a catchall phrase to describe anyone who serves. Other nations use the term “G.I.” too. In Britain, the phrase refers to a Gunnery Instructor.

During World War One, U.S. troops began using slang for incoming German artillery that included the term “G.I. cans.”

By the time the World War Two era was in full swing, the Selective Service system brought G.I. into widespread use. Some sources say the term replaced the less-than-flattering “doughboy” moniker used previously.

At least one source places some of the praise for bringing “G.I.” into more widespread acceptability with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who is quoted saying that during World War Two, “the truly heroic figure of this war [is] G.I. Joe and his counterpart in the air, the navy, and the Merchant Marine…”

Fast-forward about 22 years and the release of the very first G.I. Joe action figure by Hasbro and you start to see how “G.I.” became a popular phrase and mental image of those who serve. In spite of that history, some feel the term is a bit of an anachronism in the 21st century, preferring service-specific references rather than the broader term, G.I.

No matter how the phrase became an unofficial part of military jargon, “G.I.” was written in law in the Montgomery G.I. Bill of 1944, what is officially known as The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, which included the G.I. Bill.

Girl Scout Troop 10669, from Our Lady of Mercy School

We’d like to say thank you to Girl Scout Troop 10669 for their donation of Girl Scout Cookies that will be included in our upcoming shipment of 26 Hug a GI Boxes.