{"id":77217,"date":"2025-07-20T21:26:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T21:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/07\/20\/d-day-veteran-and-tiktok-star-papa-jake-larson-dies-at-102\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:34:18","slug":"d-day-veteran-and-tiktok-star-papa-jake-larson-dies-at-102","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/veterans\/2025\/07\/20\/d-day-veteran-and-tiktok-star-papa-jake-larson-dies-at-102\/","title":{"rendered":"D-Day veteran and TikTok star \u2018Papa Jake\u2019 Larson dies at 102"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PARIS \u2014 D-Day veteran <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2023\/06\/06\/papa-jake-survived-d-day-on-omaha-beach-now-hes-a-tiktok-star\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2023\/06\/06\/papa-jake-survived-d-day-on-omaha-beach-now-hes-a-tiktok-star\/\">\u201cPapa Jake\u201d<\/a> Larson, who survived German gunfire on Normandy\u2019s bluffs in 1944 and then garnered 1.2 million followers on TikTok late in life by sharing stories to commemorate World War II and his fallen comrades, has died at 102.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An animated speaker who charmed strangers young and old with his quick smile and generous hugs, the self-described country boy from Minnesota was \u201ccracking jokes til the end,\u201d his granddaughter wrote in announcing his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tributes to him quickly filled his \u201cStory Time with Papa Jake\u201d TikTok account from across the United States, where he had been living in Lafayette, California. Towns around Normandy, still grateful to Allied forces who helped <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/military-history\/2024\/06\/04\/last-wwii-vets-converge-on-omaha-beach-for-d-day-and-fallen-friends\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/military-history\/2024\/06\/04\/last-wwii-vets-converge-on-omaha-beach-for-d-day-and-fallen-friends\/\">defeat the occupying Nazis<\/a> in World War II, paid him homage too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur beloved Papa Jake has passed away on July 17th at 102 years young,\u201d granddaughter McKaela Larson posted on his social media accounts. \u201cHe went peacefully.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs Papa would say, love you all the mostest,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Born Dec. 20, 1922, in Owatonna, Minnesota, Larson enlisted in the National Guard in 1938, lying about his age since he was only 15 at the time. In 1942, he was sent overseas and was stationed in Northern Ireland. He became an operations sergeant and assembled the planning books for the invasion of Normandy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was among the nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/military-history\/2024\/06\/04\/centenarian-vets-are-sharing-their-memories-of-d-day-80-years-later\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/military-history\/2024\/06\/04\/centenarian-vets-are-sharing-their-memories-of-d-day-80-years-later\/\">160,000 Allied troops<\/a> who stormed the Normandy shore on D-Day, June 6, 1944, surviving machine-gun fire when he landed on Omaha Beach. He made it unhurt to the bluffs that overlook the beach, then studded with German gun emplacements that mowed down American soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are the lucky ones,\u201d Larson told The Associated Press at the 81st anniversary of D-Day in June, speaking amid the immaculate rows of graves at the American cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are their family. We have the responsibility to honor these guys who gave us a chance to be alive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He went on to fight through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/military-history\/2024\/12\/13\/us-and-allies-mark-80th-anniversary-of-wwii-battle-of-the-bulge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/military-history\/2024\/12\/13\/us-and-allies-mark-80th-anniversary-of-wwii-battle-of-the-bulge\/\">Battle of the Bulge<\/a>, a grueling month-long fight in Belgium and Luxembourg that was one of the defining moments of the war and of Hitler\u2019s defeat. His service earned him a Bronze Star and a French Legion of Honor award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In recent years, Larson made repeated trips to Normandy for D-Day commemorations \u2014 and at every stop, \u201cPapa Jake\u201d was greeted by people asking for a selfie. In return, he offered up a big hug, to their greatest joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One memorable encounter came in 2023, when he came across <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2024\/01\/14\/british-d-day-veteran-celebrates-turning-100\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2024\/01\/14\/british-d-day-veteran-celebrates-turning-100\/\">Bill Gladden<\/a>, a then-99-year-old British veteran who survived a glider landing on D-Day and a bullet that tore through his ankle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI want to give you a hug, thank you. I got tears in my eyes. We were meant to meet,\u201d Larson told Gladden, as their hands, lined and spotted with age, clasped tightly. Gladden died the following year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his TikTok posts and interviews, Larson combined humorous anecdotes with somber reminders about the horrors of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reflecting to AP on the three years he was in Europe, Larson said he is \u201cno hero.\u201d Speaking in 2024, he also had a message to world leaders: \u201cMake peace not war.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He often called himself \u201cthe luckiest man in the world,\u201d and expressed awe at all the attention he was getting. \u201cI\u2019m just a country boy. Now I\u2019m a star on TikTok,\u201d he told AP in 2023. \u201cI\u2019m a legend! I didn\u2019t plan this, it came about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Small-town museums and groups around Normandy that work to honor D-Day\u2019s heroes and fallen shared tributes online to Larson, one of their most loyal visitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe was an exceptional witness and bearer of memory,\u201d the Overlord Museum posted on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHe came every year to the museum, with his smile, his humility and his tales that touched all generations. His stories will continue to live. Rest in peace Papa Jake,\u201d it read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThanks for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Larson was among the nearly 160,000 Allied troops who stormed the Normandy shore on June 6, 1944, surviving machine-gun fire when he landed on Omaha 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