Culture Watch

G.I. Joe, whose nom de guerre is known to 97% of American boys age 5 to 11, is opening its toy boxes to women and vets of other eras for the politically correct ‘90s.

The latest battalion of new Joes has a Jane, an Army helicopter pilot. She’s dressed in a jumpsuit, survival vest, helmet with communications link and dog tags, and armed with a 9-millimeter beretta. Her mission? She’s in a medevac crew, transporting the wounded to safety.

In its series of new toys commemorating various wars--from the Civil War onward--Hasbro showed a Vietnam veteran figure in a wheelchair at some toy conventions earlier this year. Why a wheelchair Joe only for Vietnam? The company has no official comment, but says that it tested another Vietnam Joe standing next to the Vietnam Memorial wall in Washington, D.C. There is also a traditionally garbed Vietnam Joe outfitted in jungle fatigues.

Wayne Smith, a veteran instrumental in the building of the Vietnam Memorial, likes the veteran Joe. “Personally, I think it’s just one more piece of war reality the Vietnam vet brings to the table,” he says. “When a little boy asks, ‘Why is this man in a wheelchair, Daddy?’ he’ll get an honest answer.”