Shirley, N.Y. ? On a steamy afternoon similar to the day 10 years ago when they hugged their loved ones for the last time, relatives of the 230 people who died in a fireball aboard TWA Flight 800 gathered Monday to dedicate the final piece of a memorial to the victims and the rescuers who raced in vain to the crash site.

At a park that is the closest piece of land to where the jet exploded, an expansive memorial was completed Monday with the dedication of an abstract black granite sculpture called “The Light.” The sculpture was designed by Henry Seaman, whose cousin died in the crash, and is the centerpiece of the TWA 800 memorial at Smith Point County Park.

Victims’ families had placed wedding rings, teddy bears and other mementos in a sealed vault under the sculpture, along with the last unclaimed property from the crash of the trans-Atlantic flight.

Also honored Monday were the rescuers who toiled in the search for survivors amid burning jet fuel and mangled bodies during 72 straight hours of work after the crash.

John Seaman, head of the TWA Flight 800 Family Assn. and the uncle of 19-year-old victim Michele Seaman, introduced the rescue effort’s commander – Coast Guard Rear Adm. Tim Sullivan – as the man who represented “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men.”

“My crew was initially very disappointed, very upset that we failed many of you,” said Sullivan, his voice cracking. Sullivan was the only speaker who received a standing ovation from the audience of about 1,000.

Lifeguards push a boat into the Atlantic Ocean filled with flowers for victims of TWA Flight 800, which crashed in the waters off New York's Long Island 10 years ago, during a sunset memorial service at Smith Point Park in Shirley, N.Y. A memorial inscribed with the names of the 230 victims and a park also were dedicated Monday.

Gov. George Pataki and Seaman placed a wreath in front of the sculpture as bagpipers played “Amazing Grace” and “God Bless America.”

Only minutes after taking off from Kennedy Airport, TWA Flight 800 to Paris exploded, raining carnage on the Atlantic Ocean off Long Island. Among those killed were 16 high school students from Montoursville, Pa., and five chaperones who were traveling to Paris as part of a French Club trip.

Initially, investigators were not sure if the calamity that killed all 230 people aboard on July 17, 1996, was caused by a bomb, a missile or mechanical failure. Following an exhaustive, four-year investigation, officials determined that TWA 800 was destroyed by a center fuel-tank explosion – likely caused by a spark from a short-circuit in the Boeing 747’s wiring that ignited the tank’s volatile vapors.

Despite the finding, conspiracy theories linger.

“There will always be a segment – although this segment is pretty small – of people who for whatever reasons, they like to keep their names in the news or whatever, who honestly believe in these conspiracy theories,” said Robert Francis, the former vice chairman of the National Transportation Board, who led the investigation and attended the service.

Fourteen flags at the entrance of the memorial represent the victims’ nationalities. After the service, the flags were lowered to half-staff in tribute. A large granite wall, similar to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, displays the victims’ names.

The memorial garden features stone benches and massive black stone tablets that tell the story of the victims, as well as the rescue workers and boaters who raced to the fiery scene.