YORBA LINDA : His Faithful Flock to See Ollie North

Five years ago, Oliver L. North was under fire as a mastermind of the Iran-Contra scandal, but at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace Monday he was considered no less than a hero.

He arrived like a head of state--via helicopter and then a short motorcade--but North was easygoing, a bit more outspoken and dressed in a V-neck sweater and khaki pants as he autographed his book, “Under Fire.”

Library docents, local government officials, military officers and history buffs were just a few who waited in line for up to three hours to get their books signed, some showering North with praise for everything from the invasion of Grenada to the capture of the Achille Lauro ship hijackers. Few people queried him on his controversial past.

“He’s such a highly respected, honorable role model,” said Lynda Vickers, 33, of Placentia, who had five books signed for holiday gifts. “He stands up for the unimportant little people.”

Library officials invited North to the 90-minute signing session, one of about a half-dozen he scheduled in Orange County. He was to sign books at the Price Club in Fountain Valley later in the evening.

“It’s obvious he has the regard of the people,” said Betty Mead, a longtime Placentia resident who got a book signed to donate to the Placentia Library. “Can you see this crowd if they thought he was a villain?”

Still, a visit to the newly opened Reagan Library in Simi Valley was not scheduled on the tour. In the book, North writes that he believes that then-President Reagan must have known about the diversion of Iranian arms sales funds to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Reagan has denied those claims.

“They haven’t invited me (to the Reagan Library),” North said. “But neither did the Carter Library.”

North told a reporter that he had “prayed every night” for the release of the hostages in Lebanon.

“I think whatever he did was done for the good of the hostages,” said Virgil Anderson, 67, of Yorba Linda. “He had very good intentions.”

Many people who waited felt that they had something in common with with North, either because of his background or his ideological views.

Stan Mozer, 40, of Anaheim gave North a flag to place on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. When Mozer was wounded in Vietnam, a friend gave him the flag, with Mozer’s promise that it would be returned. But the next day his friend was killed in combat.

“This is the only way I can get (the flag) there,” Mozer said. “He’s a Marine, I’m a Marine. We’re brothers. He went to Vietnam; I went to Vietnam.”