9-year-old Lillington boy hopes to celebrate 100th birthday of WWII-veteran 'Papa Jake' Larson

Gavin Poteet has been a World War II fanatic since he was 4 years old.

This past year, the 9-year-old Lillington native got to cross off an item on his bucket list. Poteet spoke on the phone with WWII veteran Jake Larson, the last survivor to storm Omaha Beach on D-Day. Larson, 99, also known as "Papa Jake," told Gavin about his D-Day experience.

Gavin said it was an amazing to talk with Larson. The half-hour conversation left him in tears, his mother Lisa said in a Facebook post; happy tears, that is.

Gavin hopes he can cross off another item on his bucket list this year: meeting a WWII veteran. He’s planning on traveling to California to celebrate Larson’s 100th birthday.

A GoFundMe was started to help him make the trip out to California, and Gavin is hopeful he’ll be able to raise enough money.

In a Facebook post, his mom talked about how her son bought a WWII veteran hat to honor the men who fought. Two kids at school decided to bully Gavin and threw his hat on the ground.

That hasn’t stopped Gavin from wearing his hat proudly, and it hasn’t diminished his passion.

His father Alan said Gavin has been talking about joining the military since he was 4 years old.

Gavin said he wants to join the Army when he’s older. Like the men who fought in WWII, he said he wants to be a soldier on the front lines.

If you're interested, you can donate to Gavin's GoFundMe.