D-Day veteran and tiktok star 'papa Jake' larson dies at 102
'Our beloved Papa Jake has passed away on July 17th at 102 years young,' his granddaughter McKaela Larson posted on his social media accounts. 'He went peacefully and was even cracking jokes 'til the very end. As Papa would say, love you all the mostest,' she wrote.
Born Dec. 20, 1922, in Owatonna, Minnesota, Larson enlisted in the National Guard in 1938, lying about his age since he was only 15 at the time. In January 1942, he was sent overseas and was stationed in Northern Ireland. He became operations sergeant and assembled the planning books for the invasion of Normandy. He was among the Allied troops who stormed the Normandy shore on D-Day, June 6, 1944, surviving machine-gun fire when he landed on Omaha Beach. He made it unhurt to the bluffs that overlook the beach, then studded with German gun emplacements that mowed down American soldiers. After D-Day, he fought on through the Battle of the Bulge. In recent years, he made repeated trips to Normandy for D-Day commemorations.
'We are the lucky ones,' Larson told The Associated Press at the 81st anniversary of D-Day in June, speaking amid the immaculate rows of graves at the American cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach. 'They had no family. We are their family. We have the responsibility to honor these guys who gave us a chance to be alive.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Al Arabiya
Man dies trying to cross the English Channel from France
One person has died after attempting to cross the English Channel from a beach in northern France, local authorities said on Saturday, bringing the death toll this year in the perilous waterway to at least 18. The Pas-de-Calais department's prefecture told The Associated Press that a man was found in cardiac arrest on board a boat which had attempted to reach Britain and then turned back toward French shores. The man was found near Équihen beach, close to the town of Boulogne-sur-mer. He was pronounced dead despite the efforts of firefighters to revive him. An investigation into the cause of his death has been opened. French media, quoting numbers from France's Interior ministry, said 18 people have died trying to reach Britain by sea since the start of the year.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Arab News
Southwest Airlines flight headed to Las Vegas takes dramatic plunge in response to nearby aircraft
LAS VEGAS: A Southwest Airline jet heading to Las Vegas from Southern California took a dramatic plunge shortly after takeoff Friday in response to an alert about a nearby plane, injuring two flight attendants, authorities and passengers said. Southwest flight 1496 was responding to an onboard alert about another aircraft in its vicinity, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The FAA is investigating. The crew responded to two air alerts that required the pilot to climb then descend, Southwest said in a statement. The flight departed from Hollywood Burbank Airport just before noon. Passengers posted on social media that the plane took a dramatic drop soon after takeoff. Data from the flight tracking site FlightAware shows it dropped roughly 300 feet (91.44 meters) in 36 seconds. 'Pilot said his collision warning went off & he needed to avoid plane coming at us,' comedian Jimmy Dore posted on X. The plane was in the same airspace near Burbank as a Hawker Hunter Mk. 58 just after noon local time, FlightAware shows. A Hawker Hunter is a British fighter plane. Records show its owned by Hawker Hunter Aviation Ltd, a British defense contracting company. The company didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment. Mike Christensen, an airport spokesman for Hollywood Burbank, said that neither the control tower or the operations department, which tracks planes departing and arriving, have any record of the Southwest flight plunging in their airspace. Southwest said the flight continued to Las Vegas, 'where it landed uneventfully.' The airline said that it is working with the FAA 'to further understand the circumstances' of the event. This close call is just the latest incident to raise questions about aviation safety in the wake of January's midair collision over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people.
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Al Arabiya
Southwest Airlines flight headed to Las Vegas takes dramatic plunge in response to nearby aircraft
A Southwest Airline jet heading to Las Vegas from Southern California took a dramatic plunge shortly after takeoff Friday in response to an alert about a nearby plane, injuring two flight attendants, authorities and passengers said. Southwest flight 1496 was responding to an onboard alert about another aircraft in its vicinity, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The FAA is investigating. The crew responded to two air alerts that required the pilot to climb, then descend, the airline said in a statement. The flight departed from Hollywood Burbank Airport just before noon. Passengers posted on social media that the plane took a dramatic drop soon after takeoff. 'Pilot said his collision warning went off & he needed to avoid plane coming at us,' comedian Jimmy Dore posted on X. The plane was not in the immediate vicinity of the Hollywood Burbank Airport north of Los Angeles at the time, said Mike Christensen, an airport spokesman. Christensen said that neither the control tower nor the operations department, which tracks planes departing and arriving, have any record of the Southwest flight plunging in their airspace. Southwest said the flight continued to Las Vegas, where it landed uneventfully. The airline said that it is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to further understand the circumstances of the event. This close call is just the latest incident to raise questions about aviation safety in the wake of January's midair collision over Washington D.C. that killed 67 people.
