Nazi Saboteurs at Horseshoe Curve

Learn about a WWII connection in Pennsylvania with Gunnery Sgt. Kenneth J. Serfass as he presents this historical talk as a conductor on the once-great Pennsylvania Rail Road.

When the United States entered World War II in late 1941, Altoona became essential to the war effort as the most important rail connection between the Midwest and the East Coast’s shipping ports. To strike at the Pennsylvania Railroad and, specifically, the Horseshoe Curve would have hindered America’s ability to move troops, war material, and natural resources necessary to support the fighting in both theaters. Most important was the propaganda value of such a terror attack, at least as Hitler saw it.

In June of 1942, four highly trained Nazi saboteurs came ashore in Long Island and tried to move inland to their assigned targets across the eastern seaboard but were foiled along the way. Horseshoe Curve proved so vital in its military value that it was fenced off and put under 24-hour military guard until 1946. The tale of these Germans is little known but fascinating and reflected now in a time of international terror attacks across the globe.

Gunnery Sgt. Kenneth J. Serfass was born in Bethlehem, PA, on June 18th, 1966. A US Marine since 1984, his final tour was with the First Marine Division Band during Operation Iraqi Freedom; he retired from the Marine Corps in July of 2004 to become a music teacher. Ken has been a Civil War reenactor and is now a full-time professional living historian portraying Ulysses S. Grant, the first keeper of the Sea Girt Lighthouse, Abraham Wolfe, and now a non-descript conductor on the once-great Pennsylvania Rail Road. Ken travels the country, presenting an average of 15 appearances each month between February and December.