‘Papa Jake’ Larson, D-Day veteran who became a TikTok star, dies at 102

Jake Larson, a World War II veteran who shared his stories with scores of TikTok admirers who knew him as “Papa Jake,” died Thursday, his family said. He was 102.

For five years, Mr. Larson shared his World War II experiences to an enthralled audience that grew to more than a million people this year. They looked forward to seeing his cheerful smile and captivating stories of his time in the U.S. Army, often told while wearing commemorative D-Day shirts and jackets, and showing old photographs. He began many of his videos with: “Hey TikTok fans! Papa Jake here!”

Mr. Larson “went peacefully and was even cracking jokes til the very end,” his granddaughter, McKaela Larson, wrote in a statement on his TikTok account.

“As Papa would say, love you all the mostest,” McKaela Larson wrote.

He was born on Dec. 20, 1922, in Owatonna, Minnesota. He later became one of the nearly 160,000 Allied troops who stormed the Normandy shore on June 6, 1944, starting the liberation of German-occupied France. He stormed Omaha Beach, surviving the day’s fierce gunfire.

In 2019, on the 75th anniversary of D-Day when he was 97, Mr. Larson returned to Normandy’s shores for the first time since fighting there. Mr. Larson later received a bronze star from the U.S. Army, and he was awarded the Legion of Honor from France, the country’s highest honor.

Mr. Larson greets schoolchildren during a visit to Colleville-sur-Mer, to the Normandy American Cemetery that is the final resting place for nearly 9,400 American war dead and which overlooks Omaha Beach, on June 2.

McKaela Larson started her grandfather’s journey on her own account in 2020, when the D-Day anniversary event he had been scheduled to attend that year was canceled because of the pandemic. She introduced him to the world as her loving grandfather Jake Larson, a man who had lied about his age to join the National Guard at 15 and helped plan the Omaha Beach invasion. Mr. Larson was the only surviving member of his unit, she said.

“If you have the chance, please send Papa Jake some love and honor him for the hero that he is,” McKaela Larson said in the video.

Thousands of commenters did, and they asked to hear more about him.

Shortly after, McKaela Larson helped start her grandfather’s own page, where he shared old photos, stories from his service, videos from his visits to historic war sites and messages to mark Memorial Day, Veterans Day and more. Mr. Larson’s account grew to 1.2 million followers.

His last TikTok video was July 3, when he celebrated winning an Emmy for an interview he did with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. Mr. Larson held Amanpour’s hand during the conversation, commemorating the 80th D-Day anniversary, and told her remembered landing on Omaha Beach “like it was yesterday.”

He recalled feeling water up to his chin and readying himself to fight.

“I lost friends. Everybody lost friends. But we were soldiers,” Mr. Larson said in the interview. “We were prepared to give our life.”

Amanpour said he’d stormed the beach “heroically.” His hometown paper called him a “living legend.” But Mr. Larson repeatedly told people he didn’t think of himself as a hero. He was gentle and humble, constantly keeping the thousands of troops who died on D-Day at the forefront of his videos, interviews and remarks.

On occasion, he broke from his traditional content to let his audience into the more tender, intimate moments of his life.

They were together for 45 years. He recalled how she had loved chocolates from See’s Candies, and he’d always gifted her one box on Valentine’s Day and another on her birthday four days later.

“This is not very much about my life, but it’s the important thing about my life,” Mr. Larson said in the video, as he held a photo of her. “She’s the one who made me, and I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for this girl right here. Still just love her.”

Later, Mr. Larson said: “But we’ll be together again, and it’ll be a blessing.”