LINCOLN, Nebr. -- Master Sgt. Ashlee Meehan, Aircrew Flight Equipment flight chief, and Tech. Sgt. Leland Bowder, an AFE quality assurance specialist, stepped into the mission when the original team became unavailable after a short-notice schedule change.
“We weren’t even the original people signed up,” Meehan said. “The mission slipped 24 hours, and they asked who could do it. We just said, ‘We got it.’ We had no idea what we were driving into.”
The 155th ARW was requested because its AFE section maintains a large lift-capable equipment truck, normally used to move life-saving gear onto aircraft. The airmen's skill and truck's versatility allowed for means of access and capable transfer of the cases from variable heights of the C-17 to the building where DPAA team awaited.
Meehan, who has served 25 years across active duty and the Guard, said she expected a simple equipment run. “Honestly, we thought we were just going to pick up a case or two,” she said. “We didn’t expect 15 flag-draped caskets and more than 30 airmen practicing facing movements to carry them off the aircraft. It became very real, very fast.”
For Bowder, who recently transitioned into AFE quality assurance, the experience quickly shifted from routine support to something far more profound.
“It was eye-opening,” Bowder said. “You could feel the somberness in the air. This meant a lot to people. It wasn’t our normal day-to-day mission, you just knew this mattered.”
Both airmen recalled the emotional moment when a woman connected to one of the long-missing service members stood quietly near the C-17 as the cases were lowered.
“She didn’t want to be singled out,” Bowder said. “But you could see the closure and the weight of it all.”
Meehan described watching airmen line both sides of the aircraft bay, saluting each case as it moved down the ramp.
“It takes a lot to surprise me at this point in my career,” Meehan said. “But this woke something up inside. The whole day was heavy, unexpected, and meaningful. To see this level of commitment 80 years after World War II, it gives you a sense of pride.”
Bowder, who saluted while operating the truck’s lift, said he kept thinking of his own family. “What if it were one of my relatives?” he said. “Knowing people are still out there doing this, it feels good to help even in a small way.”
Meehan said many airmen, including herself, never realize DPAA missions continue at such scale. “I knew of the mission, but I didn’t know they brought the remains through Offutt,” she said. “It’s incredible that these efforts still exist, that these service members aren’t forgotten.”
DPAA’s Detachment Europe conducts recovery operations year-round, often in remote or technically challenging locations, to recover aircraft wreckage, personal effects and human remains still unaccounted for since World War II.
For the two 155th ARW airmen, the mission, though short-notice and outside their normal duties, became a career-defining moment.
“We’re both grateful we got to be a part of it,” Meehan said. “It was unexpected, but it reminded us why we serve. If our small role helped bring even one family closer to answers, then it was worth everything.”
Bowder echoed the sentiment: “It was heartwarming and humbling,” he said. “Just to know we helped, even briefly, that’s something I won’t forget.”