FORT DEVENS, Mass. - Fort Devens celebrated its 105th anniversary with an all-day festival Saturday.

The United States Congress and the Department of the Army established the former Fort Devens in 1917. It was used as a training facility for soldiers in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. 

The post officially shut down in 1996 and became a reserve forces training area. Today, Fort Devens provides training capabilities and base operations support to the U.S. armed forces across New England, and home to Army, Navy and Marine tenant organizations.

"I hope that people learn today more of the history of Fort Devens and Devens Reserve Forces training area, and what it means to the people that support the mission that we have here," said Garrison Commander Lt. Col. Trent Colestock. "As I stated earlier, a lot of people think even in the neighboring communities there is no base here. So I hope they just gain more understanding and knowledge of who we are, what we do and what we're proud of here."

For veteran Donald Grantham, Saturday brought back a lot of memories. He trained at Fort Devens in 1973, and spent around eight months training at Fort Devens before going to Southeast Asia with the Army. He came all the way from Elizabeth City, N.C. for the event.

"To see the buildings and going down to my barracks specifically grown up with weeds and trees, it's sad," Grantham said. "But yet, at large, to see this going on today and see Fort Devens continuing with another mission is very exciting for me."

One of the more famous soldiers to have trained at Fort Devens was the late General Colin Powell, who trained at Devens before deploying to Vietnam. Saturday's celebration was the first for Fort Devens, and included demonstrations of military vehicles, weaponry and live music.