World War Two veteran Jake Larson returns to Brownlow House

Jake Larson, who will be 100 in December, returned to Brownlow House where he was based aged 19

A 99-year-old American World War Two veteran who was stationed in County Armagh was given a special welcome on Friday when he returned to visit his former base.

Jake Larson, who will be 100 in December, served in the US Army on D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge.

Before the Allied invasion of occupied France, when he was aged 19, he was stationed in Brownlow House, Lurgan.

He has been visiting Northern Ireland for a number of days.

With members of his family he stayed in Belfast before travelling to the Giant's Causeway and the north Coast and then visited Armagh for the St Patrick's Day parade.

On Friday, Mr Larson attended a special event at Brownlow House attended by the representatives of four governments, as well as the local MP and mayor.

Speaking beforehand, Mr Larson told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme of his memories of Northern Ireland.

"My first memory of Northern Ireland was of Armagh," he said.

"We went into Armagh and there was quite a confusion, because we were the first American troops into Armagh."

David Martin, the manager of Brownlow House, described Friday as a spectacular day.

"Today was very, very historic, because you're not going to get that happen again, a veteran of that age, 99 years of age, return on a pilgrimage to where he was stationed during World War Two," he said.

Mr Larson had plenty of stories to tell

"As manager of Brownlow House it was a very proud day for us to have him back - an historic day, one we'll talk about for a long, long time.

"So a very special day, everything about it was just fantastic."

Among those who welcomed Mr Larson were the deputy US consul, honorary German consul, French consul and UK Minister of State Conor Burns.

There were also re-enactors dressed in the uniforms Mr Larson would have worn as a young soldier.

Mr Martin said the veteran had "plenty to say and plenty of stories to tell".

"Whoever would listen to him, he took time to tell the stories, he's a D-Day veteran, he's a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge - he was involved in six battles and he survived them all," he added.

Mr Larson fought during some of the key battles of World War Two

"He told us he has the secret of long life - he told us the secret of long life is not to die.

"So not only is he very sharp, he's very witty and he remembers things from 80 years ago.

"We have a museum and World War Two exhibition here in Brownlow House and for posterity we've recorded some of Jake's stories and hopefully we'll get to play them in the museum as well."

TikTok star

As well as being a World Ware Two veteran, Mr Larson is also, thanks to his granddaughter McKaela, something of a star on the social media app TikTok.

Their TikTok account, Storytime with Papa Jake, has nearly 500,000 followers and his videos have amassed nearly seven million likes.

In one of the videos McKaela shows him footage of Brownlow House, sparking interest in a return to the country where he was based so many years ago.

"TikTok has given me this vision," he said.

"I didn't even know what TikTok was until my granddaughter sent it to me one day."

Mr Larson pictured during a visit to the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Colleville-sur-Mer three years ago

When asked for his memories of his time as a soldier it was not the battles that he served in which came to mind first, but an occasion when he made a "typographical error".

"The commanding officer [of his regiment] right after Pearl Harbour authorised us to have a 15-day furlough from Louisiana to Minnesota," Mr Larson said.

"This was the middle of the winter, no freeways, you drive through every town - it's probably like Ireland here, Northern Ireland, town to town.

"My commanding officer said I'm not giving 15 days, you go up and make furloughs for seven days.

"Well that typewriter of mine made a mistake and accidentally put 15 days on it and he signed it."