{"id":3557,"date":"2025-07-22T01:29:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T01:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatsthescuddlebutt.com\/?page_id=3557"},"modified":"2026-04-30T16:41:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T16:41:54","slug":"remembering-jake-larson","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/remembering-jake-larson\/","title":{"rendered":"EP-214"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/2614541\/episodes\/19099376-remembering-jake-larson.mp3?download=true\">Listen \/ Download<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"buzzsprout-player-19099376\"><\/div><script src=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/2614541\/episodes\/19099376-remembering-jake-larson.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-19099376&#038;player=small\" type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:13px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/whatsthescuddlebutt.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jake1-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1188\" style=\"width:452px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jake1-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jake1-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jake1-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jake1-480x360.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jake1.jpeg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>In 2019, I signed up for TikTok with the sole intention of keeping an eye on what my kid was up to online. What I didn\u2019t expect was to stumble across a community that was far different from what the media and politicians led us to believe. One of the first creators I discovered was an extraordinary man\u2014WWII veteran Jake \u201cPapa Jake\u201d Larson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through heartfelt one-minute interview clips recorded by his granddaughter, Mckaela Larson, Papa Jake\u2019s stories immediately captured my attention. After binge-watching about 20 of these snippets, I reached out to Mckaela to see if Papa Jake would be interested in a long-form interview. To my joy, he was not only interested\u2014he was more than ready.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"620\" height=\"390\" src=\"https:\/\/whatsthescuddlebutt.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jake2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jake2.jpg 620w, https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/jake2-300x189.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jake Larson of Martinez was a 21-year-old soldier who had top clearance\nwhen he worked as a clerk at the Portsmouth, England, U.S. Army\nheadquarters. He was part of the 1944 invasion of Normandy France, when\nmore than 150,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches in a pivotal battle\nagainst Axis forces.\n(Curtesy Karlan Larson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Papa Jake was charismatic, energetic, and sharp as a tack. His first interview with me aired on <strong>July 12th, 2020<\/strong>, and we followed it up with another on <strong>September 6th, 2020<\/strong>. It became clear he still had more to share, so we sat down one last time on <strong>November 4th, 2020<\/strong>, to record what would become our final conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After hearing the heartbreaking news of his passing today, I decided to revisit those three incredible interviews, take the very best moments, and bring them together into this tribute episode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please join me in honoring the legacy and voice of an American hero in <strong>WTSP EP214: Remembering Papa Jake<\/strong>. \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>-Don<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen \/ Download In 2019, I signed up for TikTok with the sole intention of keeping an eye on what my kid was up to online. What I didn\u2019t expect was to stumble across a community that was far different from what the media and politicians led us to believe. One of the first creators I discovered was an extraordinary man\u2014WWII veteran Jake \u201cPapa Jake\u201d Larson. Through heartfelt one-minute interview clips recorded by his granddaughter, Mckaela Larson, Papa Jake\u2019s stories immediately captured my attention. After binge-watching about 20 of these snippets, I reached out to Mckaela to see if Papa Jake would be interested in a long-form interview. To my joy, he was not only interested\u2014he was more than ready. Papa Jake was charismatic, energetic, and sharp as a tack. His first interview with me aired on July 12th, 2020, and we followed it up with another on September 6th, 2020. It became clear he still had more to share, so we sat down one last time on November 4th, 2020, to record what would become our final conversation. After hearing the heartbreaking news of his passing today, I decided to revisit those three incredible interviews, take the very best moments, and bring them together into this tribute episode. Please join me in honoring the legacy and voice of an American hero in WTSP EP214: Remembering Papa Jake. \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 -Don<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3557","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3557"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3804,"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3557\/revisions\/3804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wtspwwii.com\/wtsp-wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}