Friday November 24 4:42 AM ET

                  Boeing Makes Pledge to TWA Memorial 

                  ST. LOUIS (AP) - Boeing Co. has agreed to give $100,000 to help build a
                  memorial on Long Island for the 230 people killed in the crash of TWA Flight
                  800.

                  The Boeing-made 747 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff
                  July 17, 1996. Groundbreaking at a donated two-acre site on Long Island
                  took place this year on the anniversary of the fatal incident.

                  Boeing spokesman Russ Young said the company is happy to support the
                  $1.5 million monument planned by The Families of TWA Flight 800
                  Association.

                  ``We are deeply touched by their experience,'' Young said. ``They are good
                  people brought together in a terrible situation.''

                  John Seaman of Clifton Park, N.Y., who lost a niece in the crash and heads
                  the association, said the contribution was key because it boosted fund-raising
                  efforts to $900,000, enough money to begin construction.

                  The project - which entails a large, curved piece of black granite engraved
                  with the victims' names on one side and 230 doves facing the ocean - is
                  slated for completion by 2001, in time to mark the crash's five-year
                  anniversary.

                  But Seaman, who lobbied TWA for a contribution, is disappointed that the
                  St. Louis-based airline declined.

                  ``They value their dollars more than their integrity,'' he said.

                  The airline and its insurance carrier have spent $13 million on funerals,
                  memorial services, burials and travel arrangements for grieving families, said
                  TWA spokesman Mark Abels.

                  ``As time has gone on, we have found it increasingly difficult to support group
                  activities, simply because the interests of the families differ and what comforts
                  some invariably distresses others,'' Abels said in a letter to Seaman.

                  ``We respect the views of family members who feel that a public monument
                  will help them to keep cherished memories alive,'' Abels added. ``We also
                  respect the views of those who, more than four years later, no longer wish to
                  rekindle these emotions or relive this tragic experience.''

                  The association needs $600,000 more to complete the project. Fund raising
                  efforts include selling engraved bricks for the memorial's walkway.