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A US Army pilot shot down over Egypt and missing in action since World War II has been identified by DNA analysis and will return to North Carolina for burial in September — home after 84 years.
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Capt. Marvin Lancaster was 24 in 1942 when his P-40F Warhawk crashed in Egypt’s western desert, attacked by German forces during a strafing mission in the second battle of El Alamein.
For the family, he formed an almost mythical figure over the decades — present in their hearts if not their hometown.
“I’m a fighter pilot because of him,” said his nephew Jack Brown, 80, who flew for the Marines in Vietnam. “My brother flew fighters, also, in the Navy. His example had a lot to do with it. I never met him and here I am, getting emotional.”
Lancaster grew up in the small Craven County town of Vanceboro, home to roughly 800 people both during the war and now. His younger sister’s obituary noted the family of 15 children grew up on a tenant farm, children of the Great Depression.
He and his brother Clifton, who served in the Navy and missed Pearl Harbor only because he was on leave, joined up to serve their countries but also find opportunities unavailable to farm boys in the Depression.
Brown said his uncle sent money home to the family during his service, and the checks continued after his death — an enormous help.
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Newspapers statewide recorded Lanaster’s graduation from flight school in Alabama and his commission as a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps, then finally news of his being lost in action.
Brown described the difficulty flying a propeller plane over water without modern navigational aids, and also in formation with other fighters on their way to hit German airfields.
“That flying,” he said, “well, it was quite courageous. I don’t think I could have done it.”
Days after his crash, British forces recovered and buried the remains of an unknown pilot near a downed U.S. fighter, designating them X-7. Those remains got reinterred in a British cemetery, then transferred to American authorities, who declared them unidentifiable in 1949 and buried them in what is now the North African American Cemetery.
Lancaster remained a memory and mystery until 2024, when his remains moved to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency for laboratory analysis. Scientists used both anthropology and mitochondrial DNA to determine the pilot’s identity.
On Sept. 18, he will be buried with family attending, back in his hometown.
“There’s a lot of gratitude in this family for his memory,” Brown said. “This is turning into a huge family reunion. We’re going to be meeting people we’ve never known before now. We’ve got three generations that have scattered. It’s going to be quite emotional.”
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This story was originally published August 25, 2026 at 9:57 AM.