I found the answer... a site about the writer, Frank Loesser -- http://www.frankloesser.com/music_war.htm

Containing this...

PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE AMMUNITION

“Loesser has created a song that had an American hymnlike character, rich with folk flavor.”
—David Ewen

From the cover of the original published version:
As sailors boiled from below decks of a U.S. Navy warship to fight off low flying Japanese planes, Chaplain William Maguire left his altar and ran to a gun station where one of the gunners had been killed and another wounded. In the unholy roar of that torrent of bombs, Chaplain Maguire shouted his now famous words: “I just got one of them!! Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!!”
Frank Loesser donated his royalties from the sale of this song to the Navy Relief Society. The song sold over 2 million records and 1 million copies of sheet music. The Office of War Information restricted it’s performance over the airwaves to once every four hours, lest the public tire of it.
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Bill