War and Remembrance : A devastating conflict that is killing relatives and reducing their ancestral towns to rubble has mobilized the large enclave of Croatian-Americans in the harbor area.

Every day in San Pedro, in a large stucco hall filled with memories of good times, scores of Croatian-Americans gather to share sad stories about the war in their homeland.

In the bright auditorium and the dark lounge of Croatian Hall, they talk about what has happened to their republic and loved ones, such as Ante Rogic.

Rogic was a 17-year-old soldier in Yugoslavia when the war began in July, said his cousin, Susy Smith of San Pedro. And he was tortured and killed in his hometown of Skabrnje for refusing to join the Yugoslav army’s crackdown on Croatia’s bid for independence, she said.

“When they brought his body home, our custom is to have an open casket,” Smith said. “But this time, they didn’t.”

The story of Ante is one of countless told every day in San Pedro, where a large enclave of Croatian-Americans has mobilized to help their homeland survive a civil war that so far has claimed thousands of soldiers and civilians on both sides of the conflict.

While most Americans are gripped by the economic recession, the dismantling of the Soviet Union or events in the Middle East, the estimated 20,000 Croatian-Americans who live in the harbor area are consumed by a war that is killing relatives and reducing towns to rubble.

“This has taken over our whole community,” said Sylvana Gusich of the Croatian National Assn., a 51-year-old Los Angeles organization that serves as an umbrella group for all Croatian clubs in Southern California. “Everyone is involved.”

On one front, Croatian-Americans have fought locally for public attention and political action to help their families and friends in the republic of 5 million people, where war broke out only two days after Croatia’s June 25 declaration of independence. Since the fighting erupted, hundreds of Croatian-Americans have staged demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles, held candlelight vigils in San Pedro and mounted huge letter-writing campaigns to the White House and Congress.

Simultaneously, the Croatian-American community has coordinated a massive assistance effort in which nearly 400 tons of food, clothing and medical supplies have been shipped to Croatia from the Port of Los Angeles, according to organizers. Thus far, they said, the shipments have included an estimated $2.5 million in food and $2 million in medical supplies.

And the relief efforts are growing. Larger shipments are being readied and new programs are being started, including Croatian Mother, a sponsorship program for children orphaned by the war.

“When we started, it was like anything new. It took some time to get organized,” said Mario Juravich, San Pedro field deputy to Los Angeles Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores. “But now, we feel we are organized and contributing.”

At Croatian Hall in San Pedro, scores of people huddle quietly each night to organize relief efforts, coordinate demonstrations or just listen to radio dispatches about the war, which pits Croatia and Slovenia against the Serbian-dominated Yugoslav National Guard and other forces that want to keep the two republics from breaking away from Yugoslavia.

When the stories about the war’s toll on civilians and cities are told, the crying begins.

“When I was in Zagreb,” Walter Lonza told several friends the other night, “I saw three little kids in sweaters standing outside, and the temperature was zero. And when I walked over to give them some money, their mother started crying, and I was crying too.

“It is,” he said, choking back tears, “a barbaric war.”

Regina Herceg said her 78-year-old aunt, Ljubica Tuskan, was gunned down by a sniper as she left her home in Karlovac.

And, although he still does not know all the details, Yul Draskovic said, he does know that his brother, Niko, and cousin, Maria, died after their tiny town of Gruda was bombarded for days.

“I am a 66-year-old man, and I am crying,” Draskovic said. “Do you see what misery we are going through?”

Herceg, who is helping coordinate the relief efforts, said the tales of turmoil in Croatia never seem to end.

“Almost every person who comes in has someone suffering at home,” she said.

Many Croatian-Americans, particularly the large number who have been loyal to the Republican Party, are upset by what they see as the Bush Administration’s lack of attention to the war.

“There is a disappointment and helpless feeling among Croatian-Americans,” said Juravich, Flores’ aide. “And sometimes they feel frustrated that many countries, including the U.S., have turned their eyes away from what is happening there.”

That frustration was evident recently when more than 200 Croatian-Americans turned a San Pedro fund-raising luncheon for U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) into an emotional call to abandon President Bush in next year’s election unless the United States officially recognizes Croatia’s independence. (The European Community this week announced it would recognize Croatia and Slovenia in January.)

“If he cannot recognize Croatia because it is the right and moral thing to do, he had better recognize Croatia because, if he does not, he will lose the votes of all Croatian-Americans in the next election,” Mike Volarich, president of the Croatian National Assn., said in a speech that drew loud cheers and a standing ovation from the luncheon audience.

There are an estimated 3 million people of Croatian descent living in the United States.

The political activism borne by events in Croatia has also touched many young Croatian-Americans who, like Miro Tomasevich, were never before involved in Croatian community and cultural events, or preoccupied with Croatia’s future.

“I’ve never been real active in the Croatian-American community,” said Tomasevich, a 21-year-old student at Cal State Long Beach and president of its Croatian American Student Society.

“But now that the volcano has erupted in Croatia, we are involved . . . it has brought us together.”

As such, local Croatian-American leaders said, the community’s young people have been every bit as active as their parents and grandparents in organizing fund-raising events, staging demonstrations, and coordinating emergency relief efforts.

“The most important thing in all of this is that it (the war) has brought us together here,” said Felix Duhovic, president of the Croatian-American Club of San Pedro. “When you see 40 to 50 people loading containers . . . when you see all the work that is being done, it is a good feeling, it is a great feeling.”

Still, for all their work, Duhovic said, local Croatian-Americans believe more needs to be done. And while the war continues, he said, Croatian Hall will remain a solemn place.

“We always sing. We always dance. We love a good time,” Duhovic said. But this New Year’s Eve, he said, there will be no dancing at the hall, unless his family and others in Croatia win independence.

“If they do,” he said, managing a smile, “we will have a big celebration.”