Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council, UK Lurgan Stories, 16 Mar 2023

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From YouTube: Lurgan Stories: Return of GI Jake Larson

Description

Watch as American GI World War 2 veteran Jake Larson makes an emotional return to Brownlow House, eighty years after he was stationed there as a 19 year old soldier with the US army, before participating in the D-Day campaign and Battle of the Bulge.

Jake’s return visit was made possible thanks to a fundraising campaign organised by his granddaughter McKaela Larson, who made her granda a social media star through their Tik Tok account, Storytime with Papa Jake, which has amassed nearly 500,000 followers, with their videos receiving over seven million likes.

You can find out more about Jake’s wartime experiences at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdN_ZKWV4-yBP5nU13HXY5w

This video was produced by the Lurgan Townscape Heritage Scheme, which is supported by the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council and the Lottery Players, through The National Lottery Heritage Scheme. Find out more at: www.lurgantownscapeheritage.com

A

We're at brown house today and we're expecting a very, very special visitor burner house you can see in the background here to me- is a absolutely wonderful building with all its uh chimneys and we have today a return visit of Jake Larson Jake was stationed here during World War II as a 19 year old GA, and he left here in 1944 and today he's returning after 80 years to show his family, where he was stationed to tell us the stories of what happened while she was here and he called himself.

A

He has a big guy called the luckiest man alive.

A

But it's also here at Burnley house today, we're looking to have Jake to come and return to see the place that he so fondly remembered and told many stories to his families over the years and now after 80 years at the age of 99, GX returning to Bruno house, and it's going to be an emotional day for him, it's going to be an emotional day for his family, but it's going to be also a joyous day as well as we celebrate Czech returning here to Brownell house, and today we have a special special uh guest list for him to meet and uh We've laid on a bit of a day for him, and we hope that uh it'll be a day that Jake will always remember on a day that his family remember on his return to Browner house and a Lobby, hello Jake.

A

It will be simply when he arrives. It'll be welcome back.

B

The United Kingdom and the United States to this day look to each other as our closest allies in the world and as Winston Churchill said on the lawn of the White House during the second World War. So long as our two great Nations Stand Together, we need fear nothing and we need fear. No one. Your presence today is humbling and does us an enormous honor. Thank you.

B

C

The other thing is much more personal, because I realized that, without your brevity without your self-risking, your life, my husband and I, both born in 65 and 67 in West Germany, would likely not been able to grow up in peace in Freedom democracy. So it's very, very personal when I want to thank you here for fighting Hitler for fighting Fascism and Injustice. So that's very, very personal to me. Thank you very much.

C

D

What a wonderful occasion and I I just can't believe how? Well you look, uh how amazing you speak and you just the history that you are able to bring to this building and the history that oozes from this building. It's just great to see you here today to be part of it and I want to just present to you a small token, it's just a little picture of brand new house that you can take back to America wow, so you can take that with you. Can.

E

I say as the first citizen to thank you in your generation for what you've done for myself and my family and for everyone here.

E

It is, as you said, lest we forget to those men, those brave men, those fighting men from America from Canada from from the UK from France who, who fought to bring about peace, that we we know it as today, but also as as a veteran myself and as an infanteer from one effort here to another. I want to thank you for your service and I thank your family for coming here, and thank you each and everyone for coming here this afternoon. I'm.

F

I come from France, but I come from Normandy and the Normandy beaches as well. So my parents have a house near Alamos. You know where they did the artificial Harbor and many times we've seen. You know when I grew up, we've seen a lot of footage from the time and often thought of all these young men just arrived, and some of them just put one foot on the sand, and that was it so for me, it's very very such an honor to meet somebody.

F

G

F

Course, as Angela said, maybe a lot of us wouldn't be here. If then, you know if it doesn't mean for you, um so you saved France, you saved the world and you saved democracy and which is, as we speak, very threatened. So thank you very much now.

H

Therefore, be it resolved at the United States of America Council General Belfast hereby extends it's sincere appreciation and gratitude to Jake Larson for his service and be it further resolved. The Consular General Belfast will Mark March 18th 2022 as Jay Clarkson day.

G

I I've always had such a wonderful memory of Ireland.

G

It's the first place. I have never been overseas in 1942 that they had been suffering already, the blackouts rations, but but the people treated us like we were part of their family.

G

My granddaughter contacted me brown little house and the caretaker of brown little house said when Jake is ready to come back. I'll make sure the door is open for him to come back. That fish here was a surprise for me.

G

I I had tears in my eyes the Army out there, with with the Jeeps, giving me a ride, one of them there's no way of to express the feeling of me what an honor to have every one of you here. What in honest.

G

This liberal man, who calls himself the luckiest man in the world foreign.

G