A uniformed wounded warrior was recently mistreated by the Transportation Security Administration.
Retired Marine Cpl. Nathan Kemnitz was going through security at Sacramento International Airport in full uniform, when a TSA security screener pulled him aside for a special pat down. Kemnitz was severely injured in 2004 in a roadside bomb attack in Fallujah. He now has limited use of his right arm and cannot lift it above his head. The TSA agent made him go through an embarrassing pat down after Kemnitz said that he wouldn't be able to raise his arms above his head for the full-body scan.
"My right arm doesn't work. It's a lot of hassle for me to do that," Kemntiz said according to the Military Times.
The TSA security screener looked under Kemnitz's medals, ran his hands under his waistband and even swabbed his shoes for explosives.
"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 of Kemnitz being search and sent it to his family, friends and other various sources.
"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 also underwent a strict search as he was going through the California state capitol building. He said the security screener in the building there was rude an apologetic. He was in the building to be honored as his legislative district's veteran of the year.
"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.
This wasn't the first time a wounded military member was mistreated. NBC journalist Luke Russert expressed his anger over the TSA screening a wounded military member at Reagan National Airport in January.
"Making Wounded Warriors with prosthetic legs go through extra explosives screening. #fail," Russert wrote.
In March, Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., was notified about another incident in which a double amputee was mistreated by TSA screeners at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport.
The TSA announced that it changed its ruled and eliminated the reuqirements for injured troops to remove their shoes, jackets and hats. However a wounded military member must call the TSA's Military Severely Injured Joint Service Operations Center before they travel to receive the special service.
The agency also offers escorted "curb-to-gate service" for injured or ill military members who request the service.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
