But Both Feel Strain of Probes : North and Poindexter Still Heroes to Their Supporters

On a recent Saturday afternoon, fired White House aide Lt. Col. Oliver L. North and a friend, naval Cmdr. Tom Hayes, drove to Annapolis to watch the brigade boxing championship at the U.S. Naval Academy, where both men won boxing brigade championships 20 years ago.

Five hundred people showed up to watch the fights, and North and Hayes had ringside seats. Midway through the tournament, the boxing coach asked all of the former champions in the audience to come into the ring.

Hayes was first. He got a polite reception.

North was second. He got a standing ovation.

Afterward, North spent 30 minutes signing autographs. “He took time to ask the midshipmen their names, so he could write, ‘to so-and-so,’ ” Hayes remembers.

A few days later, Rear Adm. John M. Poindexter, former national security adviser, went to a party in Washington for a former employee of the National Security Council. There were approximately 100 guests, many from the CIA.

Poindexter, a former colleague said, walked up to give a testimonial for the guest of honor. The other guests sprang to their feet to applaud him.

Although they left the White House in disgrace in November, the two central figures of the Iran- contra scandal are often given a hero’s welcome when they venture out. As investigators probe their White House activities, North, 43, and Poindexter, 50, get fan mail and unsolicited contributions to their legal defense. They work at military desk jobs, meet with their attorneys and on occasion socialize with their former White House colleagues.

Both men, their friends say, feel the pressures and strain of the various investigations. North has turned to his wife and four children and his evangelical religion for comfort. Friends say his children are at times unsettled by the publicity, and North patiently tells them that things will be fine in the end.

North’s wife, Betsy, said their children have been “confused” by the scandal and she herself wished it would end soon.

“I’m not a very patient person,” she said softly, speaking through the intercom of their northern Virginia home.

Happy to Have Him Home

But more recently she told a friend that she is grateful to have her husband home so often. At the White House, he often worked 16-hour days.

“Betty told me the only good thing about this is that he has reacquainted himself with his family after spending so much time away from them in the last five years,” said F. Andrew Messing Jr., who spoke with her a week ago. “She’s really delighted he has more time for the kids.”

As Messing and Betsy North talked, he said, he could hear North reading to his children in the background.

Friends of Poindexter say that he remains stoical about the investigation. He was disappointed at his recent automatic naval demotion, but, a friend says, he seems outwardly calm and cheerful.

“He is a very controlled individual, and he doesn’t seem to bottle up problems inside,” a former White House colleague said. “He seems to leave his problems at the office. If he isn’t able to affect something, I don’t think he loses any sleep over it.”

Friends have organized legal defense funds for both men. North has received about $70,000 in contributions. The organizers of his fund say that the Marine Corps lieutenant colonel has received 10,000 letters, most of them supportive, and insists on reading every single one himself.

He writes personal replies to those he knows. For those he does not know, North has prepared eight different replies. He labels them, A, B, C, etc. He personally decides which of the eight form letters his well-wishers should receive.

‘H’ Reply to Academy Grads

To Naval Academy graduates, he sends the “H” reply. It ends with his usual “God Bless You,” but adds the Marine Corps motto: “Semper Fidelis!”--Latin for “always faithful.”

To those who seem religious or whose reply he wants to personalize, North sends the “C” letter. It says: “Despite the slings and arrows being cast, I am comforted by the words in Isaiah (54:17):

‘No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgement you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord.’ ”

He adds: “You have indeed helped this poor servant--and have my eternal gratitude, and that of my family.”

Fund ‘Very Successful’

The organizers of Poindexter’s fund refuse to say how much money has been contributed. They say only that the defense fund is “very successful,” and they number his letters in “the thousands.” The organizers, rather than Poindexter, read and respond to most of the mail.

Don’t Meet Socially

Poindexter and North do not see each other socially, friends say, but speak of each other with respect. Retired Rear Adm. Clarence (Mark) Hill, an organizer of Poindexter’s fund, said that Poindexter feels “no sense of being betrayed by North, absolutely not.”

President Reagan fired North after he admitted to Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III that he had diverted profits from Iranian arms sales to the Nicaraguan rebels. Poindexter reportedly told Meese he learned of the diversion from North after the fact. Poindexter resigned the day North was fired.

Poindexter, as he has in the past, keeps a lower profile than North. After former National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane tried to commit suicide, North visited him in the hospital, Hayes said. McFarlane reportedly thought of North as a son when the two worked at the White House.

North has remained friends with Fawn Hall, his former secretary, despite her cooperation with investigators. Hall has told investigators that she helped North destroy, alter and remove documents related to the scandal, sources have said.

Supports Hall

In a telephone conversation Friday, North and his friend, Messing, discussed the widespread media attention the attractive Hall has received. North told Messing that Hall should “hang in there,” Messing said, and Hall speaks glowingly of her former boss.

Messing told North he was disappointed that Reagan has tried to “cut loose” his former aides. North, according to Messing, replied: “You can say whatever you want. You’re a civilian. I’m a Marine, and I don’t criticize my commander-in-chief.”

According to his friend, Hayes, North told reporters at his home: “If you want a President-basher, you’re in the wrong driveway.”

Poindexter also is careful not to criticize the President, Hill says. Poindexter feels “a sense of loyalty and friendship to the people with whom he’s worked,” Hill said, although he may recognize “how few leaders deserve to be called great.”

North now works on Marine Corps planning at Marine headquarters in Arlington, Va. He shares a small office with five other officers on the second floor of the large, brick building, surrounded by a chain-link fence topped with barbed wire. He earns $4,514 a month in pay and allowances, and in May, 1988, will be eligible to retire at $1,800 a month--about half his base pay.

Poindexter works nearby at the Pentagon. He received an automatic demotion from vice admiral to rear admiral last week because he had left his White House post, and under the law, a three-star admiral must continue working in a job designated for that rank to retain his stars. To do that, he would have had to receive an appointment requiring Senate confirmation, which Administration officials believed he was unlikely to get.

Poindexter now earns about $5,900 a month. With 29 years in the Navy, he will be eligible to retire in another year at 75% of his base pay.

If North and Poindexter are convicted of criminal activities, they could face a discharge and loss of retirement benefits, in addition to criminal penalties.

‘Mr. In, Mr. Out’

North’s standing in the Marine Corps diminished during his five years at the White House. Poindexter, however, maintained good relations with the Navy. A military officer who is friendly with both men, said: “John Poindexter was Mr. In, and North was Mr. Out” in the military.

The officer attributed this to the differences in rank between Poindexter and North and to the different philosophies of the Marine Corps and the Navy. As a vice admiral, Poindexter had fewer contemporaries competing with him professionally and fewer superiors to offend.

Moreover, the Navy is more tolerant of non-military work for its officers. The Marine Corps, a branch of the Navy, “doesn’t look favorably on people who don’t want to stand in the trenches with a rifle in their hands,” the officer said.