Storytime time with Papa Jake’s Omaha Beach video explored as YouTuber and World War II veteran dies at 102

Jake Larson, better known to millions as “Papa Jake,” died recently at the age of 102. Larson, a highly decorated World War II veteran and one of the last surviving members of the soldiers who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day, died peacefully on July 17, his family said.

His granddaughter, McKaela Larson, who helped her grandfather become a viral sensation in his late years, shared the news on social media.

"It’s with a heavy heart that I have to make this announcement. Our beloved Papa Jake has passed away on July 17th. Please know, he went peacefully and was even cracking jokes til the very end," McKaela wrote on Instagram.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Papa Jake (@storytimewithpapajake)

Larson was born in 1922, in Hope, Minneapolis, and he joined the US Army before the D-Day invasion in 1944. He was supposedly in his early adulthood when he was appointed as a sailor on the command ship Ancon, and was going to board a landing craft with the First Division, prepared to storm the heavily defended beaches of Normandy.

In his popular “Storytime with Papa Jake” series of videos on TikTok, Larson vividly described the traumatic experience of storming ashore under fire.

A look into Papa Jake's retelling of storming into the Omaha beach on D-Day

Talking about the experience of being on Omaha beach on D-day, Larson remembered finding shelter behind a small rise in the sand, a rise not even six inches tall, as two machine guns shot in his direction from the opposite directions.

“I finally got behind a little burl about six inches high with two machine guns shooting at me from two sides," he said in the video.

The air corps had, he added, entirely missed Omaha Beach with their bombing runs, providing no cover for the soldiers. Larson once tried to light a cigarette on the fly, as the soldier next to him was shot dead.

"There was another soldier, I said hey have you got a match buddy, I got no answer… I looked there was no head under the helmet," he remarked.

He called this experience a turning point, explaining he was certain he survived only by luck when he ran while the enemy guns were reloaded.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Papa Jake (@storytimewithpapajake)

McKaela started his TikTok account in 2020 to keep her grandfather’s memories alive, and quickly amassed an audience of over 1.2 million followers. According to US Weekly, fans related to his sense of humor, wisdom and candid reflections, and many described him as a living history lesson.

Papa Jake’s influence wasn’t just on war stories. In May, he shared birthday wishes from the likes of Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Chris Pratt, and even a sweet note from President Jimmy Carter.

Larson has also written a memoir, The Luckiest Man in the World: Stories from the Life of Papa Jake, which was published in 2021. When news of his death spread, tributes flooded in from fans across the globe. Followers thanked him for his service and for sharing his war stories.