Posted on 07/20/2025 6:24:38 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
PARIS (AP) — D-Day veteran ″Papa Jake″ Larson, who survived German gunfire on Normandy’s 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.
An animated speaker who charmed strangers young and old with his quick smile and generous hugs, the self-described country boy from Minnesota was ‘’cracking jokes til the end,’' his granddaughter wrote in announcing his death.
Tributes to him quickly filled his “Story Time with Papa Jake” 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 defeat the occupying Nazis in World War II, paid him homage too.
“Our beloved Papa Jake has passed away on July 17th at 102 years young,” granddaughter McKaela Larson posted on his social media accounts. “He went peacefully.”
“As Papa would say, love you all the mostest,” she wrote.
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 operations sergeant and assembled the planning books for the invasion of Normandy.
He was among the nearly 160,000 Allied troops 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.
“We are the lucky ones,” Larson told The Associated Press at the 81st anniversary of D-Day in June, speaking amid the immaculate rows of graves...
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
My FIL might’ve been right there with this gentleman. He would’ve been 101 if he were still alive right now. Never wanted to talk about what he saw or did, but he was a hero from then.
As was my Grandfather, wounded at the Battle of The Buldge.
One of my father’s friends was in the second wave at Normandy. He caught a bullet in his lower leg. Shattered the bone, but he continued crawling up the beach to get under cover. He spent 24 hours on the beach before he was evacuated.
My Dad was in England on June 6, D-Day, but went across later. He is only just now talking about his WWII experiences. Dad will turn 100 on New Year’s Eve this year.
pttt
Rest In Peace, Larson.
So many Freeper relatives of heroes on this thread. So good to know that we have people here who were actually RAISED by heroes. Gratitude and thanks to each and every one of them.
These were the men we call The Greatest Generation. They did not seek reward nor honor. They served our country quietly, and when they finished their service, they went back to their families and carried on.
Honorable men in our lives, yes?
RIP
My oldest son asked my FIL about his experiences in the war, and he pretty much told him to never ask him about that time of his life again. He told my son, in front of us, that he saw things he never wanted to see, and did things he never wanted to do. And that was that. He received two Purple Hearts, and several other honors and awards. He gave them all away.
We have one of his Purple Hearts that he had framed on a shelf in our living room, where it is near other memorabilia of his. He passed 9 years ago at the age of 92.
Yes
I knew a guy who was in Normandy before the first wave. He was UDT. Several of them swan in five miles from a ship the night before, set some timed charges to clear the landing zone then swam back.
He took a bullet in the landing craft and was sent back to the US to recuperate. Further duty in the Pacific Theatre.
I had a great uncle who I presume was part of the invasion with the Air Corps. He was a Navigator and was killed over France at some point. I found out a few years ago that he earned a Silver Star. No idea why.
In the neighborhood where I grew up, all the dads were WW 2 or Korea vets. Good people all of them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
