US D-Day veteran and TikTok star ‘Papa Jake’ Larson dies

‘Papa Jake’ Larson. FILE PIC/AFP

US D-Day veteran ‘Papa Jake' Larson, who survived German gunfire at Normandy in 1944 and garnered 1.2 million followers on TikTok late in life by sharing stories to commemorate WWII and his fallen comrades, died in Lafayette, California at 102 on July 17. Tributes poured in from followers in the US and towns around Normandy still grateful to Allied forces.

Born December 20, 1922, in Owatonna, Minnesota, Larson enlisted in the US National Guard in 1938, lying about his age since he was only 15 at the time. In January 1942, he was sent overseas to Northern Ireland. He became operations sergeant and assembled the planning books for the invasion of Normandy. He was among the Allied troops who stormed the Normandy shore on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever