Overview

• Larson died peacefully on July 17 at his Lafayette, California, home, his granddaughter said he was cracking jokes until the end.
• He enlisted in the Minnesota National Guard in 1938 at age 15 and served as operations sergeant assembling planning books for the Normandy invasion before storming Omaha Beach on D-Day.
• After fighting through the Battle of the Bulge, Larson’s service earned him a Bronze Star and the French Legion of Honour.
• From 2020 he shared firsthand WWII stories on TikTok under @storytimewithpapajake, growing his audience to over 1.2 million followers.
• Tributes have flooded social media and Normandy memorial sites, prompting calls for younger generations to carry forward veterans’ memories.