As retired Marine Cpl. Nathan Kemnitz was making the journey to Sacramento, CA to be honored at the capitol as his legislative district’s veteran of the year, he was met with two significant hurdles. The first was at the Sacramento airport, according to Military Times. Kemnitz, a decorated and severely wounded veteran, was “shamefully” treated by the TSA.
Kemnitz was injured by a roadside bomb in Fallujah, causing a debilitating injury to his right arm. It’s impossible for him to raise his arm above his head- yet that’s exactly what the TSA asked him to do. Kemnitz was wearing “the uniform of the Few and Proud,” laden with medals. TSA asked him to raise his arms above his head for the full-body scanner but he said he could not comply. “My right arm doesn’t work. It’s a lot of hassle for me to do that,” Kemntiz said.
Instead, the TSA screener “looked under Kemnitz’s medals, ran his hands under the Marine’s waistband and swabbed his shoes for explosives” while bystanders stared.
Kemnitz faced his second hurdle at the state capitol where security guards asked him to remove his dress blue blouse “because he was wearing too much metal.” Kemnitz again could not comply, which lead to “a heated exchange” between Kemnitz, a friend who was accompanying him and security officers.
“What does a uniform and heroism represent if our own citizens — in this case employees of the TSA and security personnel — have no regard for them?” wrote Kemnitz’s escort, Patricia Martin, to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki following the incidents.
Martin took photos and disseminated them to family, friends and members of the media.
“I feel so strongly that you need to know just how shamefully even a Purple Heart recipient/disabled veteran can be treated by some TSA and security employees,” she said.
Kemnitz said after the incidents that he was more annoyed by the guards at the capitol, who were “rude and unapologetic.”
“At some places I’m treated like royalty and at some like a terrorist. There’s got to be something in the middle,” he said.
