Jake Larson, World War II veteran turned TikTok star, dead at 102

CNN Jake Larson the World War II veteran and social media star known as Papa Jake has died his granddaughter posted on his social media accounts Saturday He was Our beloved Papa Jake has passed away on July th at years young Please know he went peacefully and was even cracking jokes til the very end granddaughter McKaela Larson mentioned in the posts A member of the nation s Greatest Generation Larson gained a loyal following on social media as a centenarian posting as storytimewithpapajake on TikTok where he racked up more than million followers with his stories about his life and military operation CNN s Christiane Amanpour interviewed Larson in Normandy France in June on the th anniversary of D-Day Sitting in a wheelchair just policies away from the shoreline he disclosed he remembered the invasion like it was the last evening I got off the landing craft and had water right up to my chin he recounted CNN We were all kids Larson narrated Amanpour he was just years old when he enlisted in the National Guard lying about his age at the time I don t think I was a hero I was just like anybody else We were all in this together he commented adding he was there to tell the stories of his multiple friends who died during the invasion that turned the tide of the war Requested by Amanpour whether he and other soldiers knew what they were fighting for at the time Larson declared Oh definitely That we knew Every one of us was prepared to give our life to kick Hitler s ass out of Europe And we did Just over three weeks ago Amanpour won an Emmy for her interview with Larson an honor she shared with him He reacted to the award in a video sent to Amanpour It s phenomenal And here I am little country boy that joins the infantry at years old and I come here now going on and I m winning something like this There is a God My dad had an epic epic life his son Karlan Larson stated in a brief phone interview with CNN His father s Emmy is proudly displayed in his living room which Karlan Larson explained CNN would be handed down to family members the grandkids will have to figure out a schedule Jake Larson was overjoyed that Amanpour shared her statue with him his son mentioned