World War II veteran Jake Larson, a 100-year-old American finest identified on social media underneath the title “Papa Jake,” loved giving hugs to the various followers he met throughout his journey to Normandy for D-Day commemorations.
Larson, who has greater than 600,000 followers on TikTok, attended a ceremony on Tuesday on the American Cemetery marking the 79th anniversary of the assault that led to the liberation of France and Western Europe from Nazi management.
“I got in on the planning of D-Day … I’m just a country boy. Now I’m a star on TikTok,” he informed The Associated Press with enthusiasm. “You can see me all over: ‘Papa Jake.’ I’m a legend! I didn’t plan this, it came about.”
Larson landed on Omaha Beach, the place he ran underneath machine-gun fireplace and made it to the cliffs with out being wounded.
“I’m 100 without an ache or a pain. You can’t fake that,” he stated.
On Monday, Larson went to the Pegasus Memorial, a web site commemorating a key D-Day operation, when troops needed to take management of a strategic bridge.
PHOTOS: Papa Jake survived D-Day on Omaha Beach, now he is a TikTok star
That’s the place he met Bill Gladden, a 99-year-old British veteran : “I want to give you a hug, thank you. I got tears in my eyes. We were meant to meet,” Larson informed Gladden, their arms clasped.
He additionally went Sunday right into a parade alongside different U.S. veterans, utilizing wheelchairs, at Sainte-Mere-Eglise, the place hundreds of paratroopers jumped not lengthy after midnight on June 6, 1944.
At each cease on his Normandy journey, “Papa Jake” was greeted by individuals asking for a selfie – in return, he supplied up a giant hug, to their biggest pleasure.
Several French followers posted feedback on his TikTok account to inform their emotion at seeing him.
Jake Larson was born in Owatonna, Minnesota. He enlisted within the National Guard in 1938, mendacity about his age since he was solely 15 years outdated on the time.
In January 1942, he was despatched abroad and was stationed in Northern Ireland. He turned operations sergeant and assembled the planning books for the invasion of Normandy. After D-Day, he continued this obligation by means of the Battle of the Bulge.
Larson was in Normandy with a gaggle of greater than 40 U.S. veterans who traveled with the Best Defense Foundation, a nonprofit group that helps them go to former battlefields.
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