r/BandofBrothers

This is my father, T/Sgt. Burton "Pat" Christenson of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne.

His wartime service would later be immortalized in Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers and the HBO miniseries, where he was portrayed by Michael Fassbender.

But when this photograph was taken, none of that existed.

The war was finally over.

He had spent more than three years overseas.

He had jumped into Normandy behind Dick Winters.

Fought through Holland.

Survived Bastogne.

Entered Germany.

Helped liberate one of the Kaufering concentration camps.

And stood on Hitler's Eagle's Nest.

Then he came home.

He took off the uniform and quietly returned to the same job he had left in 1942, climbing telephone poles and splicing cables for the telephone company.

He married my mother, raised three sons, and almost never spoke about himself.

But after dinner, something remarkable happened.

Night after night, for nearly forty years, he sat alone at a drawing board surrounded by wartime journals, military maps, photographs, and reference books, painstakingly reconstructing the war exactly as he remembered it.

If a date didn't match...

If a road wasn't quite right...

If one detail couldn't be reconciled...

He simply kept researching until he found the answer.

He wasn't trying to become famous.

He was trying to leave an honest record before the men who remembered those days were gone.

By the time he finished, he had created forty-six combat drawings that Stephen Ambrose described as "almost priceless." Dick Winters thought so highly of them that he had copies enlarged and sent to the Band of Brothers production team as historical reference while the series was being developed.

Growing up, I just knew him as Dad.

Looking back now, I realize the greatest lesson he ever taught me wasn't about war.

It was about humility.

He never believed that what he had done made him extraordinary.

He believed that remembering it accurately was simply his responsibility.

Sometimes I wonder how many extraordinary people we've all walked past without ever knowing what they carried with them.

Hi! I’m going for a week in Normandy - staying in Sainte-Mère-Église- this month, and wondered if anyone has any tips. I’ve been before, for the 70th anniversary of D-Day which was just the most incredible trip, staying near Isigny-sur-Mer. Of course there were a lot of events and things to see as it was such a big occasion, and I was camping with a load of my uni friends so it was a completely different situation to this trip: August, with my parents, my husband and our two young kids. As such I do want to see some history stuff but I’m fairly sure they will lose interest in these places quickly due to their age.

So, are there any places I absolutely must visit? Band of Brothers/history/family-friendly/eating out advice all welcome. (We are coming from the UK and will have a rental car)

Posted with some photos of my 2014 trip to add a little interest!

Had the genuine privilege to pay my respects to this great man, my favourite character in the show. One of the most humbling experiences.

Fly in by Dakota "Drag em oot" and spent the day chatting to cast and crew. Took my 44 Willy's MB up there as part of a convoy. Managed to get 11 signatures including Charles who played the German Blythe took the Edelweiss from.

This part was always funny to me. Lorraine was trying to hit some fleeing Germans, but he kept missing

Guarnere goes, “Jesus Christ!” 😂

Went to the luxumbourg War Cemetery and saw muck and penkala. Also some others that weren't in the show I think.

Had the pleasure of seeing these gentlemen and lady today, at Televerse in Los Angeles. Super meaningful experience. The guys on the left are producers/writers, and the woman on the right was head of casting. Sorry I didn’t write down their names; no disrespect intended.

They talked about the initial writing process and how involved Major Winters and Lieutenant Lipton were. The actors all talked about their bonds with the men they portrayed, or the families of the men who had already passed away before filming. It was clear how bonded they still are. Very involved in each other’s lives, from weddings to births and deaths and everything in between. Have group chats going back 20 years and have an annual get together, similar to the men of Easy.

A number of them stayed around to take pictures and speak with folks. Some of their wives and children were there. For a guy like me, who watches the series a couple of times a year for decades, it was a very special afternoon. And I believe it was for many others in attendance.

Sorry for the crap pic.

The man on the right is my father, Pat Christenson, and beside him is Woodrow Robbins. They served together in 1st Squad, Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne. Dad was the light machine gunner and Robbins was his assistant gunner. Dad carried the .30 caliber machine gun and Robbins carried the tripod. Most people who know Dad today know him because of Band of Brothers, where Michael Fassbender portrayed him, but what many people don't know is that Dad was an artist. He carried a sketchpad through the war and was known among the men of Easy Company as the resident artist. When there was time between the fighting, Dad drew in barns, billets and foxholes, sometimes on whatever paper he could find. Some of those original field sketches survived and I still have them today. Dad fought from Normandy through Holland, Bastogne and into Germany, and after he came home he continued drawing the war and writing about what happened. He spent decades checking his memories against his journals, books and the accounts of the other men because getting it right mattered to him. If something didn't match, he kept working until he was satisfied that he had it right. Dad once wrote that writers and artists had never been able to capture the true realities of combat, the confusion, hunger, fear and sleeplessness, and that the true picture of war was impossible to convey even by those who had done the bleeding and the fighting. I'm Timothy Christenson, Pat's son. Dad died in 1999 and I still have his wartime letters, journals, photographs, field sketches and finished drawings. I have been sharing them because this is the record Dad spent much of his life preserving, and I want people to know the men of Easy Company as he knew them.