The Dean E. Christianson World War II and Korean War Collection consists primarily of textal materials and a few visual materials from Dean's service as a navigator in the U.S. Army Transportion Corps. Included in the collection are correspondence files, personnel documents, military orders, charts, maps, navigator’s logs and flight plans, as well as a small amount of travel ephemera. The materials which range from 1941 to 1958, are organized in three series: Series I. Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson Camp, Anchorage, Alaska; Series II. World War II; and Series III. Korean War.

The first series, Joint Base Elmednorf Richardson Camp, Anchorage, Alaska, contains a large amount of correspondence from Christianson to his parents detailing his experiences at the camp,from 1941-1943 where he was a construction worker in the Engineer Office of the United States War Department. In addition, there are his personnel records during this time, one that includes an application to leave Alaska to train as a navigator and join the United States Air Force.

The following two series, World War II and Korean War, also contain a large amount of correspondence from Christianson to his family. In addition, there are military orders, training material, flight logs, as well as multiple charts and ordnance maps related to each of the wars that he served in. Within the Korean War series there is also a small amount of travel ephemera that Christianson collected as he traveled throughout the Pacific and Asia.