RECALLING VICTIMS OF TWA CRASH : HUNDREDS ATTEND SOUTHLAND SERVICES.

Byline: Susan Goldsmith Daily News Staff Writer

Their eyes full of tears and their hearts broken, mourners released 230 white balloons to the wind Sunday during a memorial service for those who perished aboard TWA's Flight 800.

As the balloons floated skyward, the 800 mourners who had gathered at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in Hollywood Hills wept and held each other, still tormented by unanswered questions about the flight that plummeted into the Atlantic off Long Island, N.Y., Wednesday night shortly after takeoff.

``We never thought Yon would leave us so soon,'' said Ariette Mani, a relative of Yon Rojany, 19, of Westwood, a former San Fernando Valley resident who was en route to Italy in pursuit of a professional basketball career and a European adventure when he was killed in the crash.

``He was a kind person who wanted to play basketball. He was such a giving person, and now he's gone,'' Mani said.

The service was sponsored by Trans World Airlines for the Los Angeles-area family members and friends of the 230 victims of Flight 800. A dozen or more Southern California crew members and passengers are among the dead.

The airline also sponsored memorials in St. Louis, Kansas, Paris, and three other locations in France.

The dead were remembered at dozens of other services across the country and world Sunday, at small churches and grand cathedrals, in a maintenance bay at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and a Roman Catholic church in Montoursville, Pa., the hometown of 16 young victims.

At the Montoursville service, a sign spelled out the children's names, along with a benediction: ``Rest peacefully in God's arms.''

Funerals for most of the victims have not yet been held.

At Forest Lawn, mourners wore white ribbons on their lapels in the memory of those who lost their lives.

``There were so many young lives just snuffed out,'' said Hana Arazi, a teacher and friend of sisters Jamie, 15, and Candace, 22, Silverman of Brentwood - who perished along with their parents on Flight 800.

``Something died in all of us the day that plane went down.''

In Bel-Air on Sunday, more than 800 mourners turned out at Stephen S. Wise Temple for a memorial service for the Silverman family.

Eugene, 54, a tax attorney, his wife, Etta, 53, and their daughters were on their way to a bat mitzvah in Israel when they were killed.

During the two-hour tribute, loved ones remembered the Silvermans as devoted friends and a fun-loving, tight-knit family.

At the Forest Lawn service, a rabbi, minister and priest attempted to soothe the pain with psalms, prayers and talk of faith.

``We bring to this occasion an absolute torrent of mixed emotions. . . . We find ourselves still shocked. We find ourselves angry and full of remorse,'' said Rabbi Allen Freehling of University Synagogue in Brentwood.

``It is our responsibility to see to it that each of those lives is not forgotten and that we become a living tribute to those we sorely miss.''

The Rev. Gregory Coiro urged mourners to remember the sanctity of life.

``Now, it's left for us to ponder the mystery and many questions in our grief,'' said Coiro, spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in Los Angeles. ``This tragedy brings home to us the beauty, sacredness and specialness of every human life.''

As organ music played quietly in the background, airline employees slowly read the names of each TWA crew member and Southern Californian who died in the disaster.

Family members and loved ones clutched one another and choked back sobs as the names were read.

Outside after the service, the balloons were released and a squadron of vintage World War II planes flew overhead, trailing white smoke. Mourners quietly wiped tears from their eyes as the smoke curled and disappeared.

It gave John Talhelm a little comfort to know his sister, Lani Warren, 47, was killed doing what she loved most - flying.

Warren, who grew up in the Valley and lived in San Diego, was a flight service manager aboard Flight 800 and a 27-year TWA employee.

``Lani loved her job and she loved this airline,'' he said. ``She never wanted to give up flying and the danger didn't bother her.''

Kaycee Messina, a western regional manager for TWA who lost several friends and colleagues in the crash, said the service was almost too much to bear.

But the outpouring of support from around the world was a great help, she said.

``It's a very sad time and this really rips us apart,'' she said. ``But our passengers have sent flowers and stopped by to give us hugs, and that love is sustaining us.''

Following the crash, TWA came under harsh attack from New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and family members, who accused the airline of not notifying family members of the deceased quickly enough.

At the Silverman tribute, one speaker echoed the criticism. At the Forest Lawn service, a TWA employee, speaking on condition on anonymity, said the criticism was unfair and the company was doing all it could to accommodate family members.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- color) Beverly Cernicky hugs Capt. Jim Sherk at a service Sunday for those killed in the crash of TWA Flight 800.

Phil McCarten/Daily News

(2 -- color) Planes fly past during ceremonies at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park.

Associated Press

(3) Hundreds of mourners attend memorial services for the victims in Wednesday's crash of TWA Flight 800 that killed all 230 people on board.

(4) Mourners hug one another Sunday at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park.

Phil McCarten/Daily News