A decorated war veteran who received a Purple Heart after being severely injured in Iraq was forced to endure humiliating searches by Transportation Security Administration screeners and by security officers at the California state capitol, according to MilitaryTimes.

Retired Marine Cpl. Nathan Kemnitz has minimal use of his right arm after being struck by a roadside bomb attack in Fallujah, thus making it difficult for him to raise his arms above his head for the full body scanner at the airport.

"My right arm doesn't work," Kemnitz told TSA screeners at the Sacramento International Airport. "It's a lot of hassle for me to do that."

Bystanders looked on as a TSA screener searched under Kemnitz's medals and swabbed his shoes for explosives. Patricia Martin was travelling with the veteran took pictures of the incident and sent a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.

"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?" Martin wrote. "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."

While Kemnitz was irritated by his experience at the airport he was far more aggravated by the way security treated him at the state capitol. Kemnitz was being honored as the veteran of the year from his legislative district so security at the capitol should have already been aware that he would be there. Instead the security guards attempted to make Kemnitz remove his top because his Marine dress blue blouse had "too much metal." Kemnitz refused and wound up in a heated argument with the security detail, according to MilitaryTimes.

"At some places I'm treated like royalty and at some like a terrorist," Kemnitz said. "There's got to be something in the middle."

A spokesman for the TSA, Ross Feinstein, issued a statement on Monday regarding Kemnitz's experiences, reports the Daily Mail.

"Our intent is to treat all injured service members and veterans with the dignity they deserve," Feinstein said. "As always, all passengers with disabilities and medical conditions are eligible for screening procedures sensitive to their particular disability, medical condition or other unique medical circumstance."

"Transportation Security Officers have to resolve any anomaly detected at the checkpoint," Feinstein continued. "As is standard procedure for all passengers, if travelers alarm when passing through a metal detector or an advanced imaging technology (AIT) unit, additional screening is required in order to resolve that anomaly."

Kemnitz isn't the first veteran to have issues while travelling. In January NBC correspondent Luke Russert tweeted his ire after watching a disabled veteran go through enhanced screening.

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