Jake Larson, the 101-year-old US veteran and survivor will be present at the festivities in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer (Omaha Beach) on 6 June in France, for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Larson refers to himself as “the last man,” and can still remember every moment of the D-Day landings after all these years. He recalls: “I spent three years in Europe. I’m a survivor of the Battle of D-Day through the Battle of the Bulge.”
That day marked the beginning of the end of Nazi rule in Western Europe and the beginning of the end of World War II, a war which cost millions of lives. On 6 June 1944, the Allied forces began their daring operation and landed on the coast of French Normandy, coming from the air and across the water.
“I walked over that minefield where so many were killed, not only from the mines but from artillery fire. They’re all up there above. Those guys there, those are the ones that deserve recognition. And I’m here to make sure that happens,” says Larson in a recent interview for Reuters.
The number of surviving veterans has dwindled over the past eight decades. Veterans like ‘Papa Jake’, affectionately nicknamed by his friends, have become increasingly rare.
Larson survived six battles “without a scratch” - he proudly displays the names of all these battles on the back of his ‘WWII Survivor’ jacket. These include D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, the Battle for Paris, the Battle of Falaise pocket, The Battle of Saint-Lô and also the Battle of Luxembourg.
“It is an honour for me to go back because ... I know the souls of the thousands who gave their life on D-Day,” says Larson.
