Jake Larson, World War II D-Day veteran and TikTok star, dies at age of 102

Jake Larson, who was part of a unit that stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 and who gained a wide following on social media after sharing his memories of World War II, died Thursday at his home in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was 102. His death was confirmed by his granddaughter McKaela Larson, on his social media accounts. Larson had 1.2 million followers on TikTok on his channel, "Story Time with Papa Jake." He amassed more than 11 million likes on the page.

"He went peacefully and was even cracking jokes till the very end," Larson posted. "As Papa would say, 'Love you all the mostest.'" Information about his other survivors was not immediately available.

Jake Larson World War II


Staff Sgt. Larson was among the 160,000 Allied troops who swarmed onto the beaches of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, in an invasion that would ultimately lead to the liberation of Europe from the Nazis.

Jake Larson was born on December 20, 1922, in Hope, Minnesota, about 75 miles south of Minneapolis. Though he was only 15 years old at the time, Larson concealed his true age to enlist in the National Guard, he told the website Memoirs of WWII in 2023.

In January 1942, he was stationed in Northern Ireland as part of the Army V Corps, also known as the Victory Corps. It played critical roles in the D-Day invasion, the liberation of Paris and the Battle of the Bulge.

As an operations sergeant, Larson assembled the planning books for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. He ran onto Omaha Beach while German machine-gunners sprayed the beach with gunfire.

He told The New York Times in 2019 that he remembered jumping off his landing craft into frigid water up to his neck amid explosions. He hid behind a pile of sand and asked a soldier if he had any dry matches to light a cigarette, as his were all wet.

Jake Larson on TikTok

Jake Larson shared many of his stories on TikTok after McKaela Larson started an account for him during the pandemic. The first video was posted in June 2020, and about 225 more followed as he quickly gained hundreds of thousands of followers.

Initially, he recounted in detail the preparations for D-Day, the operation itself, and the aftermath. But soon he added a recurring feature in which he opened letters and packages from his followers, and shared their contents in videos.

While sitting in an easy chair at home, he would read aloud from the letters. One was from a 10-year-old boy who wrote on a lined sheet of notebook paper, "You are a true hero and someone I look up to."

In addition to his own broadcasts, Larson sat for many other interviews to honor his comrades who did not return home.

FAQs

Q1. What was age of Jake Larson?
A1. Jake Larson was 102-year-old.

Q2. What did Jake Larson do on TikTok?
A2. Jake Larson shared many of his stories on TikTok after McKaela Larson started an account for him during the pandemic. The first video was posted in June 2020, and about 225 more followed as he quickly gained hundreds of thousands of followers. Larson had 1.2 million followers on TikTok on his channel, "Story Time with Papa Jake." He amassed more than 11 million likes on the page.