XABD - When you talk about "the Navy Reserve group in Topeka" I immediately think of "The Kansas Navy" an honorary group of Grand Pooh-bah's and horsethieves that still existed about 15 years ago. They had a yacht that was said to belong to the Governor of Kansas and a man I was acquainted with was the "Commodore." The "yacht" was sunk in a sudden prairie deluge or gambled away so I'm not sure what's currently going on with them. Incidentally the most "famous" members of "The Kansas Navy" was Dr. John Romulus Brinkley who made a fortune helping the famous men who were not as "healthy" as they would like to be with injections and transplants from goats:
Doctor couldn't spend the money fast enough, and he spent it pretty fast, on diamonds, nice cars, big houses, an airplane, a drug store, and a bank. Like most big spenders, Brinkley was popular, hanging out with hail-fellow Chamber of Commerce types. A fraternal group called the Kansas Navy made him an honorary admiral. The title seemed appropriate for this con-man somehow, in a place where the deepest body of water is the Missouri River, and even half of that is in another state.
So it's no surprise that, in 1922, Doc saw the potential of these new-fangled radio stations, and started one of his own. Nobody knew at the time that KFKB, "Kansas First, Kansas Best," would help invent AM radio.
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