They come from worlds apart - an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who works construction and a stained glass artist from Michigan.

But Andy Jimenez of Lawrence and Mick Fouty of Michigan came together last night to talk about what they have in common, their sons Pvt. Byron Fouty, 19, and Spc. Alex Jimenez, 25, who have been missing in Iraq since May 12, when their unit was ambushed.

Fouty, 51, caught a flight to Boston yesterday to see Jimenez, 53, in a meeting arranged by Jim Sereigo of Methuen, founder of New England Caring for Our Military.

Jimenez drove with Sereigo to meet Fouty at Logan Airport.

When Fouty got off the plane, the two fathers hugged.

"I finally get to meet you," Fouty said. "I feel so good for us to share and express our feelings. Only the two of us."

"Some day you'll see your son and I'll see my son," Jimenez said.

Jimenez, of Albion Street, said he was looking forward to Fouty's arrival.

"We're going through the same ordeal and by meeting, we can find strength in one another," Jimenez said. "In such situations, being alone is very difficult."

Jimenez brought Fouty a button bearing their sons' faces set on a background of the American flag, with the words "Our Troops" across the top and "Our prayers" at the bottom. He also brought him a silver dog tag with their sons' names, "POW-MIA May 12, 2007" and the words "In Our Prayers."

Fouty and Jimenez plan to attend a Veterans Day service in Lawrence today. Fouty was invited to be a special guest at the 3 p.m. ceremony dedicating the new brick Walk of Honor under the stands at the Veterans Memorial Stadium off Route 114 (Winthrop Avenue).

The meeting between Jimenez and Fouty comes on the heels of the half-year observance of their sons' disappearance.

Fouty has kept a low profile in the last six months, but he said yesterday he is slowly beginning to talk about his son.

"We deserve more answers than 'I don't know,'" he said.

On the fathers' ride from Logan, Jimenez told Fouty, "while you're here, I want you to feel like one of the family."

"I feel the same with you," Fouty said.

Fouty said looking through his son's e-mails, he discovered that the two soldiers were more than members of the same Army unit.

"They were buddies. They were friends," Fouty said.

As he arrived at Sereigo's Methuen home, he saw a large banner with Byron Fouty's and Alex Jimenez's faces and the words: "Together they serve our nation. Together they will come home," flanked by the words "hope" and "faith."

"That is like 'Wow,'" Fouty said. "That would go well across my bedroom wall."

Fouty said there are only two photographs in his room right now, one of his son and the other of Jimenez.

He said the last six months have been painful.

"Not knowing what is going on, where my son is, whether he's dead or alive or being tortured and whether Alex is with him. All of those things go through my mind."

Fouty said he received four foot lockers belonging to his son, but didn't open them for several weeks. He just recently opened them with the help of his best friend and his brother.

"I didn't know where to put the stuff so I didn't have to look at," he said. "I don't want to be reminded of it every time."

Fouty has neatly put away his son's T-shirts and socks in a dresser drawer. He wears his son's T-shirt, Army jacket and hat.

"It makes me feel close to him," Fouty said. "I feel I'm with him. I can smell him, taste him and feel him. It's just, 'God' being so close to him."

At home, Fouty said he listens to the same music his son enjoyed, from Black Sabbath to Blink 182 and Papa Roach.

"It makes me cry because it's him, it's my boy," Fouty said.

The most endearing object in his son's foot locker, he said, was his dog tag.

Jimenez said he continues to hold out hope for his son's survival.

"Until they find evidence otherwise, I'll always have hope," Jimenez said. "They are missing in action and there have been soldiers missing for years who have returned."

It's not easy, though.

"Despite the faith and hope, it's still difficult," Jimenez said. "There are times when I wake up in the middle of the night and turn on the television to see if there's any good news."

Fouty and Jimenez have not heard much about their sons.

The latest news Jimenez heard was last month, when Alex Jimenez's M-249 semi-automatic weapon was found in Fetoah Village, not far from where the ambush took place.

In June, al-Qaida posted a video on the Internet claiming they had killed Fouty and Jimenez.