When I landed on Omaha Beach,
at that time I was having two MG-42 machine guns shooting at me from the opposite sides.
It was just like the soul of that soldier was telling me, "Get up and get going right now!"
Hey everyone, I'm Josh from Memoirs of World War II, and real quick before we get into our
veteran's story, I want to tell you about who we are and how you can help with this project.
Memoirs of World War II is an organization run by myself and my family. We travel all over,
interviewing the last living Veterans of the Second World War and sharing their
stories in this series to ensure that their service and this important history
is never forgotten. We are funded by donations from people like you,
both through Patreon where you can choose what dollar amount you'd like to give,
and through our website. So follow the links in the description below and you can be part
of preserving this history. Thank you for your support, and now on to our veteran's story.
Having stayed clear of the conflict raging across much of the world, the people of the United States
realized neutrality may no longer be feasible and began joining the Armed Forces in droves. For Jake
Larson of Hope, Minnesota, the best way he knew to contribute was by joining the National Guard.
I started off in 1938 at 15 years old. I was working my way through High School,
working for my room and board. You don't have a penny of your own. Every three months I got
a check for twelve dollars. One of the first things I did was go down to Johnson Photo Studio
and buy a 35 millimeter Argus C2 camera. Took me two years to pay that thing off. You see that
picture out there with me sitting in a jeep? Major Ridgeway took that picture of me. Man! I developed
that... "My golly, that's a great picture!" It's the only Jeep I sat in in the service!
We were put into federal service February 10, 1941.
Before Pearl Harbor.
We interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin. The Japanese have
attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii by air, President Roosevelt has just announced.
The attack on Pearl Harbor sparked a wave of outrage amongst many citizens in the United
States. With the country now at war, National Guard and regular Army units were thrust into the
international crisis, defending both the Pacific and European fronts. With the 34th Division
being sent to the latter, Jake found himself alongside thousands, waiting for the next attack.
So we landed in Glasgow and took small ships back to North Ireland. I got
transferred into G3 of 5th Corps. That means it's like heaven and
hell compared. Infantry... You're dog soldiers. You have no future.
By the morning of June 6, 1944 the attack they were waiting for had finally arrived.
But Jake had no way of knowing the incredible historical significance
this Invasion of France would carry, nor the horrors that waited on the beach.
G3 of 5th Corps were in charge of Omaha Beach.
My job was making out the troop movements of the two divisions that we were in charge of.
It's hard to to relate this story, but...
When I landed on Omaha Beach, they let us off too early in the water. We had water up to our chins
and we were supposed to be in water up to the waist. Walking in to shore, I was the
last one in line. The Germans had landing stuff mined underneath with about a million mines.
And here we are being shot at. Unbelievable... big... the biggest guns in the world
shooting over us and back and forth. And I was more worried about stepping on a mine
than I was overhead firing. We finally got in, over the water where I could lay down,
and there was a kind of a burl there. At that time, I was having two MG-42 machine guns
shooting at me from opposite sides, coming down and shooting right in front of that sandstone.
That little piece of sandstone saved my life.
At that time, everybody in the Army was smoking. And I had a waterproof
pack of cigarettes along. So I reached and got out of cigarette, and my matches were wet.
So, I noticed that there was a soldier behind me, so I said, "Have you got a match?" And he didn't
answer. So I turned and looked and the helmet was there but there was no head under the helmet.
It was just like the soul of that soldier was telling me,
"Get up and get going right now!" And when I got up and ran, those machine guns
stop firing. They had to reload or change barrels or something. That's the way my life is:
luckiest man in the world. I got up and ran, and I couldn't see anybody to shoot at. And
man they started shooting at me again. But I weighed 120 pounds at that time, and I don't
think the Germans were capable of shooting a toothpick, you know? So I made it to shore.
The Invasion of Normandy was a hard-fought victory, opening the road to Nazi Germany.
But it was only the beginning.
Jake remained with the G3 military staff, battling through Saint Lo by night and
sleeping during the day. With Hitler's forces on the run into Eastern France,
the Germans had one last chance to shift the tide of the war.
From there we went to Belgium, then.
December 15th - the night of the 15th - Marlene Dietrich is going to perform for the troops!
Well, Jake Larson, Staff Sergeant Jake Larson has to run G3 at night.
Two o'clock in the morning, a Jeep pulls up and this Corporal is so excited. He comes up to me
and salutes me and says, "Sergeant, I'm from post number six. I'm walking my post and I look
up and there's German parachutists coming down!" I says, "What did you do?" He said,
"I ran to my Jeep and got the hell out of there. I came up here." I went right then
and woke up Colonel Hill. And while he's dressing and I'm telling him, you know, post number six,
paratroopers are dropping, he says, "You wake up General Gerow." I woke up General Gerow.
Generals don't bother to explain themselves to a Staff Sergeant or anything. I remember him saying,
"Thank you, Sergeant." That was his exact words. Well they alerted First Army,
they alerted the two divisions under us on the line, and we saved a lot of lives. That's when
the Battle of the Bulge started at 5:30 the next morning. And we were cut off from First Army.
We were up at Eupen. That's where the massacre... down there. The Germans had captured 80 or a 100.
It was debatable at that time. When the German tanks were going by, these soldiers - standing
in a ditch with their hands up - they opened up with their machine guns on the tanks.
It's
hard to talk about - something like that. They didn't have a chance.
For all I went through, I'm so thankful.
There's got to be somebody watching out for me.
This is the way my life has been. I went through six battles without a scratch.
After the fighting in Europe came to a close, Jake received a 45-day furlough and was back home
in the United States when the Second World War finally ended on September 2nd, 1945.
Though nearly 80 years have passed since the war's end,
and Jake has become something of a cultural icon in the world of social media, he has
never forgotten those who fought beside him and how fortunate he is to be alive.
I always think I'm just a little farm boy from Hope, Minnesota.
I don't think I'm anything special. When we went down to Omaha Beach cemetery,
I had five reporters with their cameras. It's more more than emotional.
Of all the people I was with, I am the only one alive. Every one of my buddies are gone.
You see how things have worked out for me? Look at me right now:
without an ache or a pain I'm sitting here talking to you. It's crazy! I look at
things like this here. You coming here. There's somebody up there that's responsible for this.