{"id":33559,"date":"2023-06-06T22:32:57","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T22:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/papa-jake-survived-d-day-on-omaha-beach-now-hes-a-tiktok-star\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T08:11:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:11:02","slug":"papa-jake-survived-d-day-on-omaha-beach-now-hes-a-tiktok-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/papa-jake-survived-d-day-on-omaha-beach-now-hes-a-tiktok-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Papa Jake survived D-Day on Omaha Beach, now he\u2019s a TikTok star"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"U.S.
U.S. veteran Staff Sgt. Jake M. Larson talks to a girl who wears an American flag around her neck during a gathering in preparation of the 79th D-Day anniversary in La Fiere, Normandy, France, Sunday, June 4, 2023. The landings on the coast of Normandy 79 year ago by U.S. and British troops took place on June 6, 1944. (AP Photo\/Thomas Padilla)<\/span>Thomas Padilla<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France \u2013 World War II veteran Jake Larson, a 100-year-old American best known on social media under the name \u201cPapa Jake,\u201d enjoyed giving hugs to the many fans he met during his trip to Normandy for D-Day commemorations.<\/p>\n

Larson, who has more than 600,000 followers on TikTok, attended a ceremony on Tuesday at the American Cemetery<\/a> marking the 79th anniversary of the assault<\/a> that led to the liberation of France and Western Europe from Nazi control.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got in on the planning of D-Day \u2026 I\u2019m just a country boy. Now I\u2019m a star on TikTok,\u201d he told The Associated Press with enthusiasm. \u201cYou can see me all over: \u2018Papa Jake.\u2019 I\u2019m a legend! I didn\u2019t plan this, it came about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larson landed on Omaha Beach, where he ran under machine-gun fire and made it to the cliffs without being wounded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 100 without an ache or a pain. You can\u2019t fake that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Larson went to the Pegasus Memorial, a site commemorating a key D-Day operation, when troops had to take control of a strategic bridge.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where he met Bill Gladden, a 99-year-old British veteran: \u201cI want to give you a hug, thank you. I got tears in my eyes. We were meant to meet,\u201d Larson told Gladden, their hands clasped.<\/p>\n

He also went Sunday into a parade alongside other U.S. veterans, using wheelchairs, at Sainte-Mere-Eglise, where thousands of paratroopers jumped not long after midnight on June 6, 1944.<\/p>\n

At every stop on his Normandy trip, \u201cPapa Jake\u201d was greeted by people asking for a selfie \u2013 in return, he offered up a big hug, to their greatest joy.<\/p>\n

Several French followers posted comments on his TikTok account to tell their emotion at seeing him.<\/p>\n

Jake Larson was born in Owatonna, Minnesota. He enlisted in the National Guard in 1938, lying about his age since he was only 15 years old at the time.<\/p>\n

In January 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. After D-Day, he continued this duty through the Battle of the Bulge.<\/p>\n

Larson was in Normandy with a group of more than 40 U.S. veterans who traveled with the Best Defense Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps them visit former battlefields.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.
U.S. veteran SSgt. Jake M. Larson poses with a woman for a photograph during a gathering in preparation for the 79th D-Day anniversary in La Fiere, Normandy, France, Sunday, June 4, 2023. (AP Photo\/Thomas Padilla)<\/span>Thomas Padilla<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"World
World War II veteran Britain's Bill Gladden, left, speaks with veteran Jack M. Larson in the Pegasus Bridge memorial in Benouville, Normandy, Monday June 5, 2023. (AP Photo\/Thomas Padilla)<\/span>Thomas Padilla<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"World
World War II veterans Jake Larson attends a ceremony to mark the 79th anniversary of the assault that led to the liberation of France and Western Europe from Nazi control, at the American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. (AP Photo\/Thomas Padilla)<\/span>Thomas Padilla<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Larson, 100, has more than 600,000 followers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-33559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33559"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82259,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33559\/revisions\/82259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33559"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=33559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}