Dying Hard has an interesting description of the word “bazooka” and how it originated. You’ll see that Bazooka bubble gum owes its ordnance-inspired name to the World War II anti-tank weapon, Bazooka, which in turn owed its name to a musical instrument developed in Arkansas before World War I. The details of all three are right after Chapter 3.
Even more widespread is the attachment of the name “Bazooka” to almost every soldier who accomplishes some feat of marksmanship with the weapon. During the fighting near Arracourt, France in the summer of 1944, for example, Ltc Charles Carpenter from Edgington, Illinois, piloting a light L-4H observation plane, nicknamed “Rosie the Rocketer”, straps six bazookas under the wings and reportedly knocks out six enemy tanks from the air, earning him the immortal nickname of “Bazooka Charlie.”