Who is “Jody” in Jody Calls?

Jody calls are military cadences based on the exploits of Jody, an imaginary character blamed for all the things that might go wrong back home while a soldier is deployed, such as losing one’s girlfriend or car. In a master’s thesis, University of Massachusetts graduate student Travis Salley argues that such call-and-response marching songs are largely rooted in the African-American musical tradition. The origin of the Jody character himself is unclear although slang expert David Maurer posited a connection with a character in California prison slang.  This is part of a complete episode.