Did you ever wonder about the story of this song?
Over on the ‘treaty cruiser’ USS New Orleans (CA-32)……. Lt.(jg) Howell Forgy, the Chaplin never got the service going that morning ….. (Dec 7, 1941) the ship was at berth 1010 in the Shipyard for major repairs on the ships engines …. soon they lost shore power ….
The crew manned their 5″ guns but the ammo hoists were down …. so other sailors formed a human chain…. and soon were passing 85 lbs shells – hand-to-hand – from the magazines up through the ship and out to the 5″ mounts ….. it was stressful work, and some were tiring … all Morphy could do was encourage them …. and out of no where he called out ….. “Praise the Lord… and pass the ammunition” .….. it soon became the title of a popular wartime song ….
e-Quips 
That is a catchy tune!
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Definitely, John. Thanks for commenting.
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Interesting and quite a sacrifice… the video is unavailable in my country, I don’t know why… cheers Pat for a great post.
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Sorry you missed it, Francisco. Catchy songs.
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That’s something that happens sometimes…
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Sometimes it’s the country,sometimes it’s wordpress, and sometimes just the Internet.
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You’re right, I think, in this case it is either the internet or WP because I usually open videos coming from the US… oh well… This evening is Wine Time, so everything will be resolved. Cheers!
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Salud, Francisco. Off to another cellar Tasting this morning. 🍷🍷🍷
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Sounds phenomenal! Enjoy!
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Expect to enjoy very much.
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Fascinating
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Thanks, Derick. I thought so too.
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This is a new one on me. I have to ask Pat. Apart from your volunteer work, do you have any connection to the US Navy?
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Father and husband were both career naval officers and I was a military librarian (civilian working for the Department of Defense) for over 30 years. Yeah, some indirect connection. 😉
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I thought as much 🙂
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Clever lad.😉
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🙂
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Great story, isn’t it?
What people are capable of when they need to!!
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Thought you might like this one, GP. People can do amazing things when motivated.
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Great backstory, Pat. I remember that song from my very young days and even now it is a frequent earworm.
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Don, my parents had an LP of WWII songs. This was on it. I immediately liked it. 👍👍👍
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The song was written by Frank Loesser, a prolific writer of such hits as BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE and WHAT ARE YOU DOING NEW YEAR’S EVE, and musicals like GUYS AND DOLLS. According to music-of-that-era authority Warren Vaché, Loesser wrote this song’s lyrics based on words spoken during the Pearl Harbor bombing by Navy Chaplain William Maquire, which is not the same name as the one in this post. I don’t know which name is correct, but in any case, the song was a real spirit-lifter.
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Thanks for the additional info Mistermuse. I only know what I copied and what you. added.
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