‘Papa Jake’ Larson, D-Day Veteran and TikTok Star, Dies at 102

D-Day veteran ″Papa Jake″ Larson, a veteran 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.​

Larson's TikTok account, "Story Time with Papa Jake," has more than 1.2 million followers.

Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images

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 at the American cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach.​

“We are their family. We have the responsibility to honor these guys who gave us a chance to be alive.”​

He went on to fight through the Battle of the Bulge, a grueling month-long fight in Belgium and Luxembourg that was one of the defining moments of the war and of Hitler’s defeat. His service earned him a Bronze Star and a French Legion of Honor award.​

In recent years, Larson made repeated trips to Normandy for D-Day commemorations — and at every stop, “Papa Jake” was greeted by people asking for a selfie. In return, he offered up a big hug, to their greatest joy.​