He would move to Scotland when his homesick mother returned home, growing up in the Scottish shipbuilding town of Clydebank, situated eight miles west along the River Clyde from Glasgow.

[1][2] Clydebank, as a centre of shipbuilding during World War II, was a major target for the Luftwaffe, and a teenage Meehan would help with the clear up after bombing raids.

His birth in the United States rendered him an American citizen, and as such he was drafted in 1945 for military service, with his postings being to Fontainebleau for training, then onto Allied-occupied Germany.

[1] Meehan completed his two years of military service in 1947, and took a position as a clerk at the Consular Agency of the United States, Bremen, serving from 1947 to 1948.

[3] Meehan's first posting with the Foreign Service was to the United States High Commission for Germany from 1951 to 1952, where he served as an information officer.

[1] He was next assigned to Berlin as their political officer, and in this role, he was present in 1962 for the exchange of prisoners between the United States of America and the Soviet Union.

[3] His postings continued to increase in seniority, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Mission in Budapest from 1968 to 1972, moving to become the counsellor for political affairs in Bonn from 1972 to 1975.

[1] Meehan would write some briefing notes and material about the Eastern Bloc, more recently, there has been media interest about such a high-profile American diplomat living quietly in Helensburgh.

[7] BBC Scotland produced a 30-minute documentary about Meehan's career and some of his thoughts on the current political climate in both Washington DC and Moscow; this program aired on 3 April 2017.

[2] Meehan and his family would be evacuated to Dumbarton, but Frank and Margaret had the same group of friends and shared interests, which included hillwalking, and they stayed in contact.