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- WW2 veteran and TikTok star 'Papa' Jake Larson dies aged 102</p>
<p>Jack Burgess - BBC NewsJuly 20, 2025 at 5:58 PM</p>
<p>[Getty Images]</p>
<p>Tributes are being paid to American World War Two veteran and social media star Jake Larson, known online as 'Papa Jake', who has died at the age of 102.</p>
<p>Larson was among the Allied troops in D-Day who attacked Nazi Germany's forces on the beaches of northern France in 1944, helping to end WW2.</p>
<p>In later life he embraced social media and gained 1.2 million followers on TikTok, where he shared stories to commemorate WW2 and his fallen comrades.</p>
<p>Three weeks ago he co-won an Emmy Award with British-Iranian journalist Christiane Amanpour for their interview marking last year's 80th anniversary of D-Day.</p>
<p>His granddaughter McKaela Larson said on TikTok that he died on 17 July but "went peacefully and was even cracking jokes 'til the very end".</p>
<p>"I am so thankful to have shared my Papa Jake with you all. You meant the world to him," she told followers of his Storytime with Papa Jake TikTok account.</p>
<p>"As Papa would say, love you all the mostest," McKaela Larson added.</p>
<p>She asked for her family to be given privacy but said she will "continue to share Papa Jake's stories and keep his memory alive".</p>
<p>"I didn't even know what TikTok was until my granddaughter sent it to me one day," Jake Larson said when asked about the app.</p>
<p>He also served in the US Army at the Battle of the Bulge in WW2.</p>
<p>Before the Allied invasion of occupied France, when he was aged 19, he was stationed at Lurgan, in Northern Ireland.</p>
<p>Larson visited Normandy several times for D-Day commemorations in recent years.</p>
<p>'Special day' as US WWII veteran returns to Lurgan</p>
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