Veteran torchbearer will use auction cash to help build home for comrades in arms- February 9, 2010 - The Daily News

By: Darrell Bellaart, Daily News

Powerful emotions overcame David Munro as he carried the Olympic flame through Hope on Sunday.

Munro is a Canadian Armed Forces veteran who lived in Nanaimo for several years. He wept as he ran through the Fraser Valley town.

The 73-year-old man was overcome by thoughts of soldiers lost while he served as a United Nations peacekeeper in international hotspots such as the Suez Canal, the Sinai Desert and the Gaza Strip.

Munro was one of 120 veterans chosen as torchbearers by the Vancouver Olympic Committee. He said that while carrying the flame, he thought of his dead comrades and others still living, whom he hopes to soon help with funds to be raised selling his torch.

The torch will be auctioned off to raise money for a seniors housing project that will largely benefit former military men.

The fit, stocky senior with bright blue eyes has been active in veterans affairs throughout his life. Though not involved in any armed conflicts in his career, he saw his share of losses. "I was in the Gaza Strip and we left 40 guys over there."

There was also the Canadian Buffalo transport plane shot down in Syrian airspace on Aug. 9, 1974, killing all nine passengers and crew. He was a Canadian Airborne Regiment member at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa in 1968 when 10 parachutists drowned in the Ottawa River.

Funds from the sale of the torch will go to a Canadian Legion-supported seniors housing project in Colwood. The details of the sale have yet to be worked out.

Nanaimo-Cowichan MP Jean Crowder wants the housing project to be expanded in the riding and "Nanaimo would be an area we would certainly look at," she said.

A Newfoundland native now living in Chemainus, Munro's run was witnessed by family members from across Canada. "It was such excitement seeing all those people cheering me," he said.

The torch will likely be sold after the Winter Olympics.