Army veteran-turned-TikTok celebrity “Papa Jake” Larson will celebrate his 102nd birthday in Martinez this week with his nearly 900,000 social media followers tuned in, and he is not bashful about wanting you to send him a birthday card.
Admittedly, “World War II veteran” and “TikTok Star” are not words we usually use together. But we will in the case of Martinez resident “Papa Jake” Larson, who has 842,500 followers on TikTok, and as KTVU reminds us, is turning 102 years old this week on Friday, December 20. And he’s not too proud to ask for a birthday card, which you can send to a PO box listed at the bottom of this post.
@storytimewithpapajake Watch til the end to know how to participate in this years Birthday Surprise for Papa Jake!! 🥳🎉❤️ #ww2veteran #veteran #birthdaysurprise #grandparentsoftiktok #grandpasoftiktok ♬ Acoustic Guitar StoryTelling - Max Brito
“I got a little birthday coming up here,” the surprisingly spry Papa Jake says in the video above. “December 20, I’m going to be 102. And thanks to you, I have never felt so good. I enjoy reading your letters and I really enjoy seeing the amount of you who follow me. My god, I'm near a million [followers] there! It’s crazy. It’s plain crazy.”
His granddaughter McKaela Larson adds, “For the past four years, we’ve been surprising Papa Jake with birthday cards from all over the world, from viewers just like you. And I want to ask you if you want to send him a birthday card this year.”
@storytimewithpapajake What amazing technology to be able to see her again ❤️ #papajake #deepnostalgia #lovestory #ww2history #veteran ♬ Somewhere In Between - August Wilhelmsson
Papa Jake’s most viral video is the absolute tearjerker above, where vintage photos of his late wife Lola are animated and brought to life. “This past November 23, we would have been married 75 years,” he says, choked up. “And I still love her.”
@storytimewithpapajake HELP SHARE PAPA JAKES STORY 🇺🇸❤️ #dday #veteran #worldwar2 #papajake #soldier #foryou #fyp #xyzbca #normandy #omaha ♬ original sound - Papa Jake
But Papa Jake’s World War II stories are something else. The above video is one in a four-part piece where he recalls 1944’s D-Day, the largest amphibious invasion in the history of the world, when he helped storm Omaha Beach in Normandy.
“I finally got behind a little burrow that was about six inches high, with two machine guns shooting at me from two sides,” he recalls. “I reached into my pocket, I was smoking at the time.”
“About two feet behind me, there was another soldier. I said ‘Hey, have you got a match buddy?’ I got no answer,” he continues. “Next time I looked, there was no head under the helmet. I thank that soldier’s soul, for me right then getting up and running when I did, because the machine guns had stopped to reload. And I got started, and they started shooting at me.”
“But I made it. I made it to the cliff without a scratch.”
The family’s goal is to get cards from all 50 states, which they have done, though they still don’t have one from Washington, DC. They’ve also put a call out for cards from celebrities, and Papa Jake has received a card from former President Jimmy Carter, who's also 100 years old.
We are going to go ahead and publish the address where you can send cards, as this does not appear to be Papa Jake’s home address. It’s the address of something called Lafayette Pack and Ship + Print Center, where Papa Jake apparently has the following postal box:
“Papa Jake” Larson
3559 Mount Diablo Boulevard, #200
Lafayette, CA 94549
Related: 100-Year-Old National Park Ranger Betty Reid Soskin Has Retired [SFist]
Image: storytimewithpapajake via TikTok
