MANSFIELD - Mansfield University and the Mountaineer sprint announced that Mansfield native and 1956 Army West Point graduate Gene Dewey will perform the Jimmy Yarosh coin toss prior to the football game on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 16.
The Mountaineers host Army West Point at 1 p.m. at Karl Van Norman Stadium.

The Mansfield Borough Council, Mayor Kathy Barrett and the citizens of the greater Mansfield area are celebrating Dewey as part of Gene Dewey Day throughout the town all day Saturday.

Dewey will also serve as the honorary captain for both schools at the game.

A 1951 graduate of Mansfield High School, Dewey matriculated to the United States Military Academy where he graduated with the Class of 1956. He later received his master's degree from Princeton University.

In the early 1960s, Dewey piloted the legendary C7A aircraft transports into remote jungle airstrips in Vietnam. His unit was among the first Americans to come under enemy fire in the Vietnam conflict. He later returned to Vietnam as the commander of the 222d Combat Aviation Battalion – a combat unit comprising of 500 mem and 72 helicopters. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his overall command of the helicopter gunships in a three-nation, combined-prisoner rescue operations in Cambodia.

Later in his career, Dewey went from warrior to humanitarian playing a lead role in the support and relocation of millions of refugees in conflicts in Biafra, Rwanda, and Afghanistan. In 1986, the Secretary-General of the United Nations appointed Dewey Assistant Secretary General as U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland.

In 2002, President Bush appointed Dewey as the Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration. By the time of his retirement in June 2005, Dewey had helped shape the return of over four million refugees to Afghanistan.
In 2006, in recognition of his incredible service to our country and humanity world-wide, the United States Military Academy bestowed upon Dewey the prestigious Distinguished Graduate Citation.

On Saturday, Dewey makes history as being the first person honored in Mansfield's 130-football history as honorary captain for both teams, representing both his Mansfield birthplace and his alma mater the United Military Academy.
Both teams are proud to have their names associated by this great American – Mr. Gene Dewey.