D-Day 80 The Last Veterans: Jake Larson
Jake Larson, Age: 101, US Army
Interviewed via Zoom 27 October 2023
Among the first wave of American troops on Omaha Beach on D-Day, Jake Larson was attached to the US Army’s 1st Division, known as Big Red One.
He remembers what it was like approaching the beaches.
He said: "I was kind of nervous so I dug out a waterproof pack of cigarettes and put a cigarette in my mouth.
"My matches were all wet. So to the left of me I sensed a soldier and said ‘Buddy have you got a match?’ I got no answer.
"So when I glanced back there there was this helmet and there was no head in that helmet, the head was gone.
"And machine guns were shooting at me- It was like the soul of that soldier said to me ‘Now. Now. Jump up and run’ and I did."
The last man out of his landing craft, he avoided landmines and shellfire and ran up the sand.
He said: "I can’t tell you if the water was cold but it was wet. And I don’t remember drying off. We dried off by being out. When we dropped off in there, there were 29 so I am the last guy there.
"I am just following in line with other lines in other parts of the beach. You can’t help but notice that suddenly a burst of water comes out of that line.
"That means somebody stepped on a landmine. I was more afraid of stepping on a landmine than I was of all the small arms and the rapid firing machine guns shooting at us.
"That landmine it was a silent killer.
"Omaha beach itself had more than a million miles so we are walking through this line. So I am making sure I am stepping in the same kine the guy in front of me was.
"I got a pretty good start before they started shooting again.
"I stood five foot ten and weighed 120 pounds so it was like those Germans were shooting at tooth picks so I said ‘Man I am glad they are not able to hit me.
"I was the operations sergeant - it was for me to set up the command post so we could converse with our two divisions."
Mr Larson had crossed the Channel from Portsmouth on the command ship.
In the months leading up to the invasion he’d been part of a top secret group preparing for the landings and is also a survivor of Operation Tiger. ]
That was an ill-fated rehearsal in which hundreds of troops were killed after being fired on by German E-boats.
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