THERMOPOLIS — Logan Dafoe’s dream of attending the U.S. Military Academy was realized this month as he became the first local high school student in 30 years to earn an appointment to West Point.
But the dream wasn’t complete, because his father Bill wasn’t there to see his son’s dream come true.
Bill died Sept. 11, 2024, following months of battling brain cancer, a devastating loss that added another level of challenges to achieving his goals.
Even without that personal adversity, the competition is tough with 15,000 hopefuls a year seeking West Point appointments and only 1,100 who are accepted.
“I didn't care how hard it was going to be,” Dafoe said. “I was going to try.”
Now finishing up his senior year at Hot Springs County High School, Dafoe had decided in his junior year that he wanted to go to West Point and started filling out his paperwork to go to Summer Leadership camp at the campus.
As he worked to keep up his grades and make sure he met all the requirements, his family was hit with crushing news.
Bill, his coach as well as his dad, was diagnosed with terminal glioblastoma — a type of malignant brain tumor.
He was life-flighted to Casper on Oct. 26, 2023, with stroke-like symptoms where they found the tumor on his brain.
Following the discovery, Dafoe’s mom, Jamie Stothart, got an urgent phone call.
“I was told to get the kids to Casper to say goodbye to him,” Stothart said. “We had seen some things going on where Bill was confused and he was forgetting his football players names, and he didn't do things like that.”
Two days after his father died, Logan played the Worland rivalry football game with his dad’s No. 38 on his helmet. Despite being told he didn’t have to play that day, Logan made the decision to be there.
“I had to go,” he said. “I couldn’t let my team down.”
Bill had always encouraged his son to play his best and taught him to punt. He had coached Logan in the local recreation football league since he was 5 and up until middle school.
“When we found out Logan was going to be the varsity center as a freshman, I looked at his dad and I said, ‘He's going to die. He's only 140 pounds,’” Stothart said. “But Bill said that he would be fine. that Logan knows how to get out of the way.”
Stothart said that Logan inherited his dad’s strong belief that you can always make it if you try hard enough.
Logan Dafoe was accepted into West Point, the first high school graduate in 30 years from Thermopolis to be heading to the military academy. (Courtesy Photo) 
7. Logan Dafoe of Thermopolis was accepted into West Point despite facing personal tragedy along the way. His dad, Bill Dafoe, had just passed away in Logan’s senior year and he had to keep pushing forward to reach his dreams of attending the military academy. (Courtesy Photo) 
Two days after his dad passed away from a brain tumor, Logan Dafoe played in a rival game for Thermopolis against Worland. He wore his dad’s college number on his helmet — No. 38. (Courtesy Photo) 
Before he passed away from a brain tumor, Bill Dafoe coached his kids and was one of their biggest cheerleaders. Logan, Bill, Bo and Ava Dafoe. He wore No. 38 in college. (Courtesy Photo) 
7. Logan Dafoe of Thermopolis was accepted into West Point despite facing personal tragedy along the way. His dad, Bill Dafoe, had just passed away in Logan’s senior year and he had to keep pushing forward to reach his dreams of attending the military academy. (Courtesy Photo)
A Family Legacy Of Serving
Logan comes from a long list of military men and women who enlisted and were drafted into military service.
“I wanted to go to the military for most of my life,” he said. “Something brought to my attention West Point, and I pursued it from there.”
His great-grandmother was one of the first female Marines, his great-grandfather was a Marine and his uncle was a Marine. However, none of them had attended officer school and so this was new territory for the family to navigate.
“He started showing interest in it in his junior year, which is something I didn’t know anything about,” Stothart said. “He started telling me everything that he had to do, and I was like, ‘Oh, so you should have started this like your sophomore or freshman year.’”
Regardless of the late start, Stothart looked for ways to help Logan achieve his dreams. Her sister put her in touch with a friend who graduated from West Point. He started helping them and advised them to apply to the summer leadership experience at the military academy.
Don’t Say Quit
Stothart encouraged her son to have a backup plan when she realized how competitive it would be to get into West Point.
“There were kids from larger schools, bigger sports and programs,” she said. “I was kind of nervous that we were too small of a school for him to be able to be competitive with the other kids.”
Logan didn’t let any of this deter him and began by filling in the Summer Leadership application on the advice of their family friend. He was accepted and went to the campus, where he became even more determined to get accepted into West Point.
“It’s a cool campus,” he said. “I was part of a squad and there were kids that were a lot like me.”
Challenges From A Small School
West Point has certain expectations for its cadets, and Logan had to explain that Thermopolis does not have honor classes or offer Advanced Placement (AP) classes. Instead, he took college classes that counted that towards his application to West Point.
“You have to be a varsity athlete in multiple sports because they want you fit and athletic and able to go into boot camp,” Stothart said. “They want you involved in some kind of club, and he needed to be well-rounded with great grades.”
Another requirement is leadership experience.
Since Logan had not joined Future Farmers of America or the student council, there were not that many options for him. Fortunately, his high school coach required his players to be leaders year-round.
“We would effectively coach and lead the team,” Logan said. “We'd help with mentoring younger players and have weekly meetings with our coaches about what was going on with the team.”
“They want something that can show them that you are capable of being an officer,” Stothart said.
As part of the process to get into West Point, Logan also went through an intensive interview process with the state’s congressional delegation. Ultimately, he was recommended to go to West Point by both Wyoming U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis.
Heading To West Point
As Dafoe finishes his senior year and prepares to head to West Point, his mom is grateful for all the support as they embark on this new adventure. She has joined a Facebook page of other West Point moms who are already giving her advice on what to expect.
“Apparently, you become part of this huge army family and people help you,” she said. “There's a network of West Point graduates and supporters.”
Logan is focused on his new opportunities and is most excited to try out for the football team. He plans to get a degree in engineering like his dad before him, and he follows the advice that his dad had taught him.
Never quit even when the odds are stacked against you.
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
