Mashpee Wampanoag Chief Silent Drum, a World War II veteran, turned 100 years old on June 16. To celebrate this milestone tribal members and friends organized a parade to his home on Meetinghouse Road in Mashpee where a group of traditional drummers performed an honor song.

Vernon “Silent Drum” Lopez was born on June 16, 1922, at his family home in Mashpee, attended Mashpee and Falmouth schools. An Army veteran of WW II he was in the fifth wave of soldiers to land on Omaha Beach in Normandy to defend the allies. He worked for many years Avon Cut and Die and then the State Fish Hatchery in Sandwich where he worked for 10 years until retiring at the age of 70.

In 1998 Silent Drum was raised as chief after the passing of Chief Vernon “Sly Fox” Pocknett.