Editing Rex Applegate (section)

==Early life==
Applegate was born on June 21, 1914, in [[Oregon]].  He was a descendant of [[Charles Applegate]], who blazed the [[Oregon Trail]] in 1843 with his brothers [[Jesse Applegate|Jesse]] and [[Lindsay Applegate|Lindsay]] and established the [[Applegate Trail]]. Applegate began hunting and shooting at a young age and learned marksmanship from his uncle [[Gus Peret]] who was a famed exhibition shooter and [[professional hunter]] at the time.  Applegate graduated from the [[University of Oregon]] with a Business Degree in 1940 and went on to take a commission in the [[US Army]] as a [[second lieutenant]].  His first billet was with the 209th Military Police Company as a lung ailment kept him from holding a combat position.<ref name=Ron>{{cite book|last=Shillingford |first=Ron|title=The Elite Forces Handbook of Unarmed Combat |author-link= Ron Shillingford |page=11|publisher= Macmillan|year= 2001 |isbn= 978-0-312-26436-9 }}</ref><ref name=Goldstein/>