In the days of television innocence and pre-cable, Terry Sams was not only the star of the Trooper Terry Show, which aired on WJBF for 20 years, but also a decent human being.

That shone through in 1965 when three kids, ages 3 to 5, got lost in woods near their Belvedere, S.C., home.

When he heard that night on the radio, they were still missing, he got up and joined the search party.

''I went back over areas about 1,000 yards behind their home that had already been combed,'' he later recalled. ''I had a big flashlight that I was waving around, calling their names: 'Hey, this is Trooper Terry. Where are you guys?' It was about 30 degrees, and these kids were just in shirtsleeves because it had been in the 70s when they went out. Then, this little head popped out of the leaves about 30 yards away. 'Hey Trooper! Come take us home.' ''

Mr. Sams got his start in television at age 16 as a part-time radio and TV announcer in his native Johnson City, Tenn. He worked at a station in Lexington, Ky., before coming to WJBF in 1961, where he became the morning news announcer and weather forecaster as well as Trooper Terry.

The Trooper Terry Show was broadcast weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings ''live'' from 1961 to 1981. The show opened with, ''Hey, kids, you better come runnin.' It's Trooper Terry time.''

The kids watching at home and in the studio audience were taught by Trooper to tie their shoes, brush their teeth and be kind to others. They watched cartoons on the ''Magic Viewing Screen Machine,'' which also took them to the North Pole at Christmas.