Welcome to Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in this edition is
Jake Larson. He's a US Army veteran of the D Day Invasion and served
all the way through the end of the war in Europe. Over the past
few years, Jake has become a viral TikTok star thanks to his granddaughter posting
their conversations about his service online. And Jake, thank you very much for
being with us. Pleasure, It's a pleasure. Thank you. Where were
you born and raised, sir? I was born in all time in Minnesota.
I was raised I'm a farm two miles west of Hupe, Minnesota.
And was there a history of military service in your family? Eh? No,
but I started one. Excellent excellent will you joined the National Guard when
you were only I'm fifteen years old? Why did you want to join at
that age? It was a matter of money. My dad couldn't afford.
There's a very bad depression at that time, and my dad couldn't afford for
me to stay in town. We lived fourteen miles from the school, and
I had to work for my room and board, so I couldn't go out
for any sports. I had to rush home, always in help. So
you joined the National Guard in nineteen thirty eight, so this is before World
War Two by three years. What kind of duties did you have in the
National Guard. We were preparing to be cannon for We learned to march,
we learned to shoot, and being a farm boy, we were brought up
with guns soul, it was a natural thing to be shooting. Now you
were about to leave the National Guard. I understand when the Japanese attacked Pearl
Harbor. Tell me how you heard that news. There was a Sunday and
somehow someone mentioned the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor. What is Pearl
Harbor? We didn't even know what Pearl Harbor was, but they said it
was part of the Hawaiian Islands. They're in Hawaii. So you obviously stayed
in the service. I didn't have much choice. There were no discharges,
but for anyone. Once the war started, you were as you were.
Tell the end of the war. Where did they send you and train you?
At that point, I was in Camp Clayborne, Lowisiana at that time,
had been there since February tenth. We were shipped to Fort Dickson,
New Jersey for embarkation over England someplace we didn't know where, but we ended
up in North Ireland. That was the big training ground for the thirty fourth
Infantry Division. I was a former company clerk in headquarters company. I got
busted down to private, so when I went to North Ireland, I was
Private Jake Larson. But your records go with you. My record when Captain
Erickson broke me down to a private, he said, you're going to beat
in the wire section. You'll be climbing poles and string for it. I
was an expert typist and it changed my life. Where I was planning on
climbing poles and stringing wire instead a staff sergeant, Staff Sergeant Jeffrey and Corporal
William Cray and Private Jake Larson. We were sent to a center in North
North Ireland where we transferred Americans that had joined the Canadian forces or the British
forces before we got into war. And we we transferred those guys back into
the United States Army at whatever rank they had. My job was to sell
sell them GI insurance. Just all dried up. About thirty three days I
was back planning on climbing poles, street and Laire, Like Captain Erickson had
promised me. Three days after Bath, I was transferred into G three,
Fifth Corps. I had no knowledge at all what even a corps was.
Come to find out there are two corps in an army. I came from
an infantry company. Does since happened, there's no one ever gets transferred from
the infantry into corps headquarters except Jake Larson. It's one of the miracles of
my life. And it's crazy. So now that you're attached to the fifth
Corps. How soon after that were you part of the D Day invasion That
was in nineteen forty two in North Ireland. We trained the thirty fourth Division
for Operation Torch in North Africa. When we invaded that, I transferred from
the thirty fourth Division. I had two first cousins that were in Company F
there and they went down on Torch. When they went to Torch, I
went to Bristol, England with the Fifth Corps. Then were transferred to Taunton,
Somerset in nineteen forty three, then to Portsmouth, England, where Eisenhower
Bradley had set up the command and uh Colonel Hill out of d G.
Threed or thirty of us I in G three. He picked me to go
with him and I got in on the plans of d D Day. I
was uh elevated in uh t to uh the highest kind of a secrecy you
can possibly get. E. Every person that landed on D Day, every
person that landed on D Day on Omaha Beach came through my fingers. I
look back at it now, it's it's an honor. Here's another thing.
It's like I'm bragging when I'm telling my story, and I've gotta tell it
like this, the boy, cause this is the way it was. Colonel
Hill being Fifth Corps, we were Fifth Corps was in charge of Omaha Beach
and seventh Corps was in charge of Utah Beach. And between Fifth and seventh
Core we were First Army, so we had to keep dialogue going with First
Army. All right, So take me to June of nineteen forty four and
the beginning of the mission across the English Channel. What was the ride like?
Well, here is another thing. It's like I'm bragging when I'm telling
my story, and I've got to tell it like this because this is the
way it was. Colonel Hill being Fifth Corps, we were fifth Corps was
in charge of Omaha Beach and Seventh Corps was in charge of Utah Beach.
And between Fifth and Seventh Core we were First Army, so we had to
keep dialogue going with First Army. Tell me about the right across the English
Channel and what happened as the morning broke right across the English Channel. I
was on the command ship. That was one of the roughest rides in the
world. We started across and we had a terrific storm come in and they
called off. We were supposed to land on the fifth. We boarded on
the fourth of June and we were supposed to land on the fifth. There
was no one slept. There was adrenaline stretch, so we went back into
to ports wherever we're at the time and kept out of the storm. Then
it was June fifth. We went across the English Channel and it was still
rough three four foot waves and the morning of the invasion started early for the
airborne troops. They dropped in behind the lines that we were supposed to come
to and disrupted the British were dropping their troops up behind. They captured this
bridge with gliders. The capture of those bridges which made a difference in the
way we came in and took over Omaha Beach in Utah Beach because we had
support behind the lungs. That's Jake Larson, a US Army veteran of World
War II, including D Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy on June sixth,
nineteen forty four. Mister Larson is now an Internet sensation after his granddaughter
posted her conversations with him about his military service on social media. Still to
come in this edition, mister Larson talks about the difficulty in getting into the
landing crafts, taking withering fire from the Germans above Omaha Beach, and the
numerous moments on that day that he believes his life was miraculously spared. In
just a moment, you'll hear his vivid memories of Omaha Beach on D Day.
I'm Greg Corumbus and this is Veterans Chronicles Sixty Seconds of Service. This
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Visit t mobile dot com slash military to learn more about how they support
our military community. A new federal report shows a nineteen percent increase in the
number of veterans experiencing homelessness in Texas. Local and national advocates are here to
help. There is no VA program in Brian College Station. Veterans looking to
access those programs have to travel to Temple for service. Last year, we
were able to place four different individuals that were veterans in the system, and
through our collaboration with the VA up in Temple, Twin City Mission Director Community
Relations Ron Krozier said local organizations like Twin City Mission have stepped up there at
home to try and close that gap through their own programs, offering services to
help those experiencing homelessness find stability and transition into housing. For more great Veterans
stories, just go to National Defense Network dot com. This is Veterans Chronicles.
I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest in this edition is Jake Larson. He's
a US Army veteran of World War Two and the Allied invasion of Normandy,
coming ashore at Omaha Beach on the morning of June sixth, nineteen forty four,
and that's exactly where we pick up the story. Mister Larson is about
to make the harrowing journey to Omaha Beach from the English Channel, but first
he describes the serious challenge of getting on the landing crafts in the first place.
When you go down those rope they aren't even ladders, they're just strung
over, just rope, and your timing down with seventy five pounds of material
hand to your back, and you're carrying your rifle over your shoulder, and
the waves that's hired do whatever came up three four feet, so you had
to watch how you got into the boat because the boat would come up to
meet you or pull away from you. That was one of the most difficult
times. I was the first one in the back of the boat, so
I sat by the Navy pilot and watched everybody come into the boat take their
places, or thirty of us on there. And I came over with members
of the first Infantry Division, the sixteenth Infantry Regiment. This stands out from
me because later in my life, when I came over for the seventy fifth
anniversary of D Day, I had the five different reporters took me down to
the cemetery. I had never been in the military cemetery before. I asked
what they wanted me to do, and they said, walk up there.
Pretend you're reading what's on the cemetery on the cross. So I walked down
and stood and read, and on that cross it's a private I don't remember
his name, from the sixteenth Infantry, first Division. It can't happen that
way, but it did. And it was just like, what are those
guys from my boat? Was there was there to greet me? It's crazy,
tell me about coming ashore. Coming ashore. The navy pilot let us
out too far. We were getting a lot of hits, and we were
under terrific small arms fire. Those big guns fourteen inch eight inch and stuff.
We're shooting over our heads, but we were walking through a minefield.
Over one million mines were planted under our feet. So I'm sitting here in
the last So when they dropped the front end of that boat and dropped us
off into that water, the water was up to our chins, who were
holding the rifles over our heads. And we followed in the line, and
I mean we stepped where the person in front of us stepped, because if
you if you stepped on one of those mines, there was a spurt of
water come up. That meant somebody stepped on the mine. And of course
we weren't the only ones that were in line. There were lines going all
over and every time you see it, spurt of water come out of one
of those lines, that means somebody stepped on a landline. And when we
got closer to the shore, I peeled off from my unit and went on
Easy Red, and come to find out, Easy Red was the killingest of
all the lines, twenty four hundred casualties on Easy Red. I came on
that Easy Red and I came through without a scratch. I got in the
shore and there was a little berm. I had had two Mg forty two
machine guns shooting at me from opposite ends of the cliff, and they had
me under fire. But that little burms sandstone burms six eight inches tall was
like a god send for me. It was my protector. That's when I
got a cigarette out of my pack that didn't get wet and put it in
my mouth, and I pulled out a wet match. So I sent someone
to my left, so I says, buddy, have you got a match?
And I got no answer. So I turned and there was his helmet,
but there was no head under the helmet at that moment. It was
like his soul himself was telling me get up and go run right now they
get off of that beach. So I got up and ran and just it
seems I got up. It's like I made this up. But both of
those machine guns shut off for a few seconds or more, and I got
running, and then they opened up again and they were trying to catch up
with me. I was five't ten inches tall at that time. I've
weighed one hundred and twenty pounds. I'm thinking, well, those Germans,
they don't know how they shoot at a toothpick. But I made it to
the cliffs safe. A miracles. What are the miracles in my life?
That's Jake Larson, a US Army veteran of World War Two, the D
Day Landings and the Battle of the Bulge. When we come back, mister
Larson takes us through the rest of D Day, how getting an unpleasant assignment
likely saved his life that evening, and the response ability he feels at age
one hundred and one to tell his story, the stories of those who died
there and the veterans who have since passed on I'm Greg Corumbus, and this
is Veterans Chronicles. This is Veterans Chronicles. I'm Greg Corumbus. Our guest
in this edition is Jake Larson, a US Army veteran of World War II.
Today we're hearing all about his service on D Day, June sixth,
nineteen forty four, during the Allied invasion of Normandy. Still to come,
you'll hear mister Larson further explain how his life was miraculously spared at Omaha Beach.
But first he tries to describe the sound of war at Omaha Beach,
the challenges. It was like somebody was shooting firecrackers. A whole bunch were
shooting big boomsmall booms. Just never see a war movie. This was intensified.
It's hard to describe. I'm a twenty one year old sergeant at that
time, twenty one years old. You don't know whether you're going to make
it or not. Omaha Beach was a killing beach. There's ninety five one
hundred buried under the cross. There's another fifteen hundred, fifteen hundred that they
couldn't find a trace of. So those big guns must have found a mark
in somebody. It's crazy, And the craziest thing is I'm sitting here talking
to you about my experience. I am the only one left. All those
guys I was with, they've all gone on and just can't last forever.
In less than two months, I'm going to be one hundred and one.
I don't have an acre or pain in my body. I'm blessed. I
truly am blessed, and I got total recognition. Why can't I remember all
this stuff? Why do I remember names? Life has been so great for
me. I have a saying, there is a God. I'm living proof
there is a god. Jake, you were saying a little while ago,
how you were able to advance when the machine guns stopped for a little while.
Once they started up again, how did you keep pressing ahead? You
put a move on and they have to try to catch up with you.
You don't let them catch up. I could move pretty fast at that time.
Quite a difference from right now. We're coming out of the off the
beach. You don't run up the bluff. That's when you're off the beach.
Then that's when the Germans are shooting you from the back too. And
we have to this ravine that we were gonna use to uh get up off
the beach. The ravine was filled with barbed wire by the Germans, where
they had pipes that were filled blasting material. They plug into each other.
So we've run some of some of those blasting pipes up there. And while
they were running those up there, three of those guys were killed by the
Germans. Then when they brew that Barbaroia haunted her, it opened up for
the rest of us. The Germans just cleared out. Once we got through
and got up behind them, they just left. What did you do after
they left? After they left, I found colonel Lieutenant Colonel Pratt, we
started to set up the command post. What were you thinking at the end
of the day. I don't remember so much. I remember setting up the
command post. I don't remember doing it. I just remember it's done.
End of the day. It was about a quarter after seven. I realized
I was digging a foxhole along with Corporal Medicine Rich. He was digging his
foxhole. We were going to sleep. We were done with the war.
We we had a beachhead and I found a a litter that hadn't been used,
So I dug my foxhole a little bit longer. So I put that
litter in the bottom, and then if I put my sleeping stuff on the
top, that litter would protected from the moisture. It was canvas. At
quarter after seven, somebody hollered from the command post, Sergeant Larson, Colonel
Hill wants to see you right now. So Colonel Hill is a full bird
colonel. He and I worked on on the invasion together. So he got
me in. He says, Uh, Sergeant, he says, First Army
wants me to keep G's tree open twenty four hours a day. He says,
you're gonna run the night shift. I says, starting, wind Sir,
he says, starting right now. It was quarter after seven. So
I went back and told Corporal Rich, I says, Maddie. I says,
you can sleep in my fox hole. Now, I got that litter
in there, he says, Jakeie, I got my flork sack already here.
I'm I'm beat, I'm I'm going to bed. So he laid his
M one grand rifle on my litter. He went to sleep. I went
to work. At midnight. The Germans sent over a plane to uh find
out what we were doing. So they l lit up that the whole thing
with flares and took pictures out. Well, aggravates are gunners from that shoot
the big guns at the planes. So they started shooting up at the plane
that was flying around there and taking pictures. Then that died off, and
I'm supposed to be operating G three at night. I don't remember anything else
except that plane flying over and all the guns going off and shooting, And
the next thing I knew I was being relieved. There was seven thirty in
the morning. So I walked over to Madison Rich. He picked up his
rifle off of my liver and it broke into a piece of shrapnel that they
had shot up at that German airship came down and hit shrapnel laying on my
litter. There is a god. How is it possible? Those Grand rifles
were eight pounds that they were solid you see, that had to be hit
just perfect in order to break apart. See I got through the invasion without
a scratch. How Come I wasn't on that litter? How come I was
picked to go and operate G three that night. I don't remember doing anything,
but I was there and it saved my life. It's crazy, It's
plain crazy. Jake, When did you finally get a chance to sleep?
You mentioned that you were up since June fourth. Basically, that's the whole
thing. They don't have war at night. I've worked at night, things
stopped down, and during the day time, well I'm supposed to be sleeping,
they're shooting. They're trying to kill each other. I was in a
ditch. It was about three foot high. It was alongside of the road,
and I had a shelter half up on there, plugged in, and
I can go to sleep in five minutes. And you could put dynamite under
me. That would be the only thing that would wake me up, or
but it would kill me. At the same time, I have the ability
to sleep and nothing will wake me up. So I woke up and about
two o'clock and on the road just alongside of me, there's guys walking there.
They're carrying bags or something, and they're coming up to me and they're
laying these bags up. They were sand bags one hundred and fifty five millimeters
shell shell. That wall that bigger route was laying five foot from where I'm
sleeping, and they were sandbagging it so they could blow it. And I
said What the hell are you doing down there? I says, I just
brushed my teeth. I says, I'm gonna shave. Now get the hell
out of there. You're supposed to be out there. We got one hundred
and fifty five mid shell here that came over right where you're sleeping. You
can't make this stuff up. It's how come I came close, always came
close, but close only counts in horseshoe and grenades. It's crazy, just
plain crazy. Well, Jake, many years later, of course, you
become famous because of your granddaughter hearing your stories, filming your stories and putting
them out there on social media for other people to find, and they become
extremely popular. So one of the reasons you're here is to tell your story.
So what does it mean to you that so many people now know not
only what you did, but all these other people that you can tell their
stories. It caused me to write a book and the name of that book
is the Luckiest Man in the World. Who in the world wouldever write a
book like that? The luckiest man in the world, I'm telling you.
After I joined the Army National Guard at fifteen for the money that was twelve
dollars every three months I'd get but it was like money from heaven. Then
I got the experience. We were like soldiers. We were ready for war
when it came. It was these youngsters that grew up karen rifles, being
able to shoot them and not being afraid to give their life. There were
so many that gave their life, and it's my duty to honor those guys.
I'm here today to tell these stories, and what an honor to serve
with these people. Every one of those guys, they're the hair. I'm
not a hero. I'm just relating what I did, and we're trained to
do this, every one of us. We're trained to do this. So
those guys, those guys that have passed on, they're the real heroes.
They're the ones I talk about. They made it possible for me to get
through by giving their life. Jake, just a couple more questions. What
are you most proud of from your service? I've already don't know how to
answer that, because sitting here I talked to a lot of units. My
book is popular with the teachers. I've got eleven teachers that I know of
that are using my book as their history book. I've got the University of
Delaware. The history professor there, he interviewed me for four hours. He
came from Delaware to California and interviewed me for four hours. He he's using
that book that he interviewed me with to train his future professors of history,
and that interview is in the library of Eisenhower in Kansas. There's a pride
that I'm getting the history of what really went on. And these things are
so vivid to me and why there's got to be a god somehow these stories.
You can't make these up. I'm so blessed to have them, and
they linger, and it's my duty to get them out. Finally, Jake,
what does it mean to you to have the American Veterans Center record and
share your story. Oh, it means the world. It means the world.
I'm so thankful to those veterans, and I want the people that are
alive and have lost veterans in their service. You can't imagine how many people
comment on that. They write to me. There's people that call me on
the phone and tell me you have given new life to me because the way
you told the story, my grandpa was there or my uncle was there,
it's such a pleasure to hear from those people, and I've got thousands of
them. I answer every one of their letters, every one of their letters.
Jake, it's an honor to speak with you today, sir. Thank
you so much for your time, and we thank you for your service and
for your commitment to telling not only your own story of service, but of
many of those that you served alongside. So thank you very much. It's
been a pleasure. Jake Larsen is a US Army veteran of World War Two.
He was at Omaha Beach on D Day, served at the Battle of
Bulge and throughout the war in Europe. He's now an Internet sensation because of
his conversations about the war with his granddaughter. I'm Greg Corumbus and this is
Veterans Chronicles.