4What made the "Greatest Generation"? Jurak wasn't sure. He wasn't even sure why or how he could even be included. All he had done, his whole life, was choose to live. Born to immigrant coal miners, he understood life at an early age. By the time he'd reached five, loss and deprivation were no strangers to him. His mama taught him to survive with hope in his heart and the knowledge that life always, always worked out. Thanks to those early lessons, he answered the call of duty. His part in the Greatest Generation was extraordinarily humble. He never said, and possibly never knew, but he was something special. This is his story.