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Oliver Laurence North's childhood was a Saturday Evening Post cover come to life. The oldest of four children, he was born in 1943 in San Antonio, but raised in Philmont, N.Y., a hamlet in the rolling hills of the Hudson Valley, about 30 miles south of Albany. His parents, Ann and Oliver Clay North, moved to Philmont shortly after World War II to help in the family wool-combing mill. North's father had won a Silver Star as an Army colonel in World War II, and he imbued his son with a fervent sense of patriotism. Family, God and country were the watchwords in the modest, yellow frame house on Maple Avenue.
Larry North -- he was known by his middle name to distinguish him from his father and grandfather, both Olivers -- seemed the exemplar of the small-town American boy. Polite and good-natured, he could also be something of a daredevil, leaping off railroad bridges and exploring nearby caves. He was not much of a scholar; if he stood out in school, it was by virtue of diligence, not brilliance. He tried so hard, recalls one of his teachers, that "if he had an 89 average, you'd give him a 90."
North came by his religious faith early. His mother was a devout Catholic, and her son was an altar boy from about age six through his last year of high school. "He had the face of an angel," says Evelyn Ronsani, North's fourth- grade catechism teacher. "You couldn't take your eyes off him." Although not a Catholic, North's father dutifully attended Mass with the family.
In high school, young Larry was not quite the he-man Marine in miniature. His extracurriculars were less than swashbuckling -- science club, chess club, drama club, senior chorus, monitor squad. In sports, as in other things, what he lacked in natural talent he made up for in perseverance. Although his class numbered only 35, North was on neither the football squad nor the basketball team (he did sit on the bench, though, as a basketball statistician). Instead, he took up a sport in which his determination could overcome his lack of natural skills: cross-country running. "He was a plugger," recalls Russell Robertson, North's coach. "His desire pushed his ability." Always the good soldier, North was willing to sacrifice individual glory for the sake of the team. "If we needed points and would get more by putting him on the relay team," says Robertson, "we could change him around. He was the type of kid who would say, 'Fine, wherever I can help the most.' "
As a senior, North was not voted "most likely to succeed," but "most courteous" and "nicest looking." He is remembered by some as being perpetually well-groomed, even fastidious, never going anywhere without a comb in his pocket. "When Larry walked into the room, you knew it," recalls Thomas Gibbons, his former English teacher. "He had an air of self- confidence."
After graduation in 1961, North attended the State University College at Brockport, majoring in English but dreaming about a military career. He enrolled in a campus Marine officers' training course and spent a summer at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. When he returned, he was dead set on being a leatherneck, and a friend's father helped him to gain admission to Annapolis.