LAWRENCE | Andy Jimenez and Gordy Dibler live thousands of miles apart, but their hearts are bound by their worry and fear for their sons missing in Iraq | 66 days today.
Saturday, the fathers of Army Spec. Alex Jimenez of Lawrence and Pvt. Byron Fouty of Michigan will meet face to face for the first time since their sons were captured by al-Qaida on May 12.
The meeting will take place at Veterans Memorial Stadium, where dozens of volunteers from around the Merrimack Valley will gather to assemble care packages for the soldiers serving in Iraq.
New England Caring for Our Military, founded by Jim Sereigo-Wareing of Methuen, is bringing the two families together. The nonprofit group paid the airfare.
At 9 a.m., Dibler, Fouty's stepfather, will meet Andy Jimenez and Maria del Rosario Duran of New York, Alex Jimenez's mother, to talk.
"When I talked to both families, I realized they were dealing with the same issues," said Sereigo-Wareing, who arranged the meeting. "I thought it would be good for them to meet and talk about how they are dealing with the process and maybe find some healing."
Meanwhile, some 75 to 100 people will package more than six tons of items for shipment to Iraq.
The packages will be sent to soldiers from the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, Second Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division. That is the group from Fort Drum, N.Y., to which Fouty and Jimenez were assigned.
Boxes also will be sent to the search teams looking for the two missing soldiers, as well as to troops serving overseas.
In total, an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 care packages will be mailed by the group.
Neither family has heard from their sons since their capture. The last news came when Fouty's and Jimenez's identification cards were found in an al-Qaida safe house north of Baghdad. Before that, an Internet video claimed a group linked to al-Qaida had killed the soldiers and buried them in Iraq.
