A veteran of the Second World War was a hero once again on Thursday, just one day after Remembrance Day.
John Dietsch, 84, was at the Royal Canadian Legion at 2 Robinson Ave. in Scarborough.
That's when, he says, a man carrying a gun came in and tried to steal the money the legion had raised from selling poppies.
It's hard to imagine such a callous act and Dietsch was equally furious.
Instead of giving up the hard-earned cash, he fought back.
"Nobody was going to get that money...it's for the veterans," he said.
Another veteran, 65-year-old Earl Gray, gave chase, running the would-be robber right out of the room.
"I would have punched his head in if I had the opportunity," Dietsch recounts.
"I went for the gun and I didn't know if it was real or a replica. I wasn't taking any chances."
While Gray insists he wasn't a hero, others weren't so sure.
"They don't call these gentlemen heroes for nothing," praised Det. Al Locken of Toronto Police.
Officers are looking for a black man in his 20s wearing a black turtleneck, and possibly a black toque.