346 REUNION IN AMARILLO
THE FAIR-HAIRED BOYS OF WORLD-WAR II MEET AGAIN
by
Bobby Lee McAninch
9th ARMY, 346 Ordnance Depot Co., 1942 - 1946
Almost 50 years have passed since the 346 ORDNANCE DEPOT COMPANY as a unit, was in the State of Texas. Now, this October 1 to 4, 1992, the 346 will hold its 7th reunion in Amarillo, TX at Fifth Season Inn East and will be hosted by two fine 346ers, Daniel B. Worley of Amarillo and Bobby L. McAninch of Plainview.
The 346 was organized in 1942 at Camp Gruber, OK. After basic, operative and combat training there the unit went to Louisiana and eastern Texas for maneuvers. During these operations General George Patton was impressed by the capabilities of the 346.
In the spring of 1943 the fair-haired boys convoyed back to Gruber. Here there was more training in classes and in the field in intense heat. There were many trips to other camps and to Texas moving materiel and vehicles. On one excursion to Fort Bliss in El Paso the convoy stopped at an airbase in San Angelo where they were afforded the excitement of riding the blue in a training seat of a squadron that had just won its wings. Returning back to Gruber it was so hot that the Company Commander, a swash-buckling Texan, halted the convoy in a State Park in Texarkana and requested all of the civilians to leave the park temporarily in order that his unit could skinny-dip in the refreshing waters.
In September of 1943 the outfit moved out to Camp Kilmer, NJ, a staging area near New York and a Port of Embarkation.