join query

[wxdqz]

sorry for asking this here, but i've been diggin through the manual and can't figure it out...

examplt: i have 2 tables... table_1 and table_2 that both have columns 'name' and 'value', but may have other non matching columns...

lets say their contents look like this:

table_1
NAME VALUE DUMMY_1
row_1 1 1
row_2 2 2

table_2
NAME VALUE DUMMY_2
row_3 3 3
row_4 4 4

i want a query to return to me something like this:

result set
NAME VALUE
row_1 1
row_2 2
row_3 3
row_4 4

i always seem to get something like this:
result set
NAME VALUE NAME VALUE
row_1 1 NULL NULL
.....

or
NAME VALUE NAME VALUE
row_1 1 row_2 2

i'm guessing i'm missing a group by clause or something.... any help will be EXTREMELY appreciated. THANKS!