Andy Jimenez took the wheel and set out on the seven-hour drive to Watertown, N.Y. His destination: Fort Drum, a military base nestled north of Syracuse and not far from Lake Ontario.

It was the second time he would travel to Fort Drum. The first was three years ago when his son Alex had returned to the base from a tour of duty in Korea.

He headed back Monday, but this time Spc. Alex Jimenez wouldn't be there. He was captured in a pre-dawn terrorist ambush on May 12 in an area of Iraq known as the Triangle of Death and hasn't been heard from since.

For Andy, the trip was tough but necessary. He needed to say thank you to Alex's friends and fellow soldiers in the Army's elite 10th Mountain Division. They had recently returned after a 15-month tour of duty and six months of looking for his son.

For the seven-hour ride, Andy was pensive. He fiddled with the radio, listening to country music. Willie Nelson's "Always on My Mind" began to play.

"I wanted to come to thank them for helping search for Alex and Byron," said Andy. Byron is Pvt. Byron Fouty, 19, also taken in that May 12 ambush.

"The visit is bittersweet. I'm happy that the soldiers have returned, but I'm sad because Alex is not here.

"He knows how much I love him and how we're waiting for him with open arms."

Waiting with open arms for Andy at Fort Drum was Spc. Shawn Gopaul, Alex Jimenez' best friend and confidant. Andy spent the night at Gopaul's house, just as his son had done many times. Sitting next to each other on the couch, Gopaul and Andy cried as they talked about Alex.

Gopaul pulled a piece of cloth from his pocket and gave it to Andy. It was Alex's name tag, which was found at the ambush site.

Andy held it in the palm of his hand, running his fingers over each letter. "Wow, thank you for this," Andy said with a grateful smile.

A few other soldiers met with Andy outside the barracks where Alex had his bunk. The soldiers stood tall and composed in their military fatigues - the image of strength. They shared stories about Alex, and their composure was lost. The men - including Andy - fell to tears.

Andy Jimenez took out a white handkerchief and told the young men, "From the bottom of my heart, God bless you and give you a long a life. Love your mother and your father while they are still with you, because once they die, you can't do anything."

Arriving at Fort Drum

Fort Drum sprawls over the upper northwest corner of New York state. It's as big as Haverhill, Methuen, North Andover, Lawrence, Salem, N.H., and Windham, N.H., linked together. It has a population of about 12,500, but trains and mobilizes some 80,000 troops annually.

It is also home to the Army's 10th Mountain Division, ready to go anywhere in the world within 48 hours. Its members are trained to fight in jungles, deserts, cities and mountains.

The 10th Mountain Division was made famous in World War II when soldiers scaled a sheer, 1,500-foot cliff under cover of darkness and fought their way through the snowy mountains of northern Italy in 1945. That spearheaded the drive that would liberate the country from the Nazis.

More recently, the division's daring 1993 rescue of ambushed Army Rangers in Mogadishu was chronicled in the best-selling book and movie, "Black Hawk Down."

Alex and Byron are part of Company D, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment - nicknamed the "Polar Bears."

Alex was sent to Iraq in 2005. Already fluent in Spanish, he taught himself Arabic and worked as a translator for fellow soldiers. Army officials praised his leadership, while his buddies talked of his sense of humor, his love of reggae and bachata music, and his loyalty as a friend.

Staff Sgt. Roberto Zendejas, 24, worked out with Alex at the gym on the base before he and Alex were deployed to Iraq. He told Andy of the day Alex went missing.

"I couldn't believe it. It was hard to take in because you hear about people dying and kidnapping, and we were right down the road from where it happened."

Andy said hearing people talk about his son gave him a lot of comfort.

Military response

A ceremony for the returning soldiers was planned for Tuesday morning. About a half-hour before it started, Andy met with Col. Michael Kershaw. He gave Andy an update on the search mission.

Kershaw said the search was often frustrating because they would get a lead on the missing soldier's whereabouts, but it would not pan out.

"We went through peaks and valleys of emotions, which is incredibly frustrating," Kershaw said.

But Kershaw added, "To say we understand what they're going through is inaccurate ... We have gone through the same emotions, but as soldiers and brothers."

Attending the 45-minute ceremony with Andy were Byron's parents, Mick Fouty of Michigan and Hilary Meunier of Texas, and Byron's former stepfather, Gordy Dibbler Jr. of Michigan.

A six-minute video was played in tribute to the 52 lost from their division, and to Alex and Byron. Each of their faces was shown on a big screen while Eric Clapton's "Tears from Heaven" played.

During the event, Andy sat stoically, looking straight at the soldiers in formation in front of him and the sea of Army men and women in their fatigues and berets who sat on the bleachers.

Following the ceremony, he was swarmed by soldiers offering support - and reassurance that they won't stop looking.

"Although we're back here, the search has not stopped," said Capt. John Gilbreth, the company commander. "It's been our number one priority since the ambush. We've never given up hope, and we have been physically digging and following intelligence leads."

Lt. Col. Michael Infanti agreed.

"If it was up to me, I would go back in a heartbeat and continue searching until they kill me or send me home," Infanti said.

Following the ceremony, Andy toured Fort Drum, and one of his stops was his son's barracks.

Each soldier cried as Andy approached. Andy, who until now had remained strong, began to sob.

"I'm sorry; it's hard to control my emotions," Jimenez said as several soldiers crowded him and hugged him. "I'm sad because Alex is not here, but I'm happy because I have a good son and he is so loved."



The way home

James Sereigo-Wareing, founder and director of New England Caring for Our Military, took the trip with Andy. On the way home, Sereigo-Wareing drove.

Instead of country music, the selection was from the '50s and '60s.

On the first leg of the 780-mile journey, Andy couldn't stop talking about the people he met and how touching the ceremony was.

He then became quiet. He began to cry.

He did not speak for much of the rest of the ride home.