brandon, as you guys are talking we re looking at these photos you ve supplied to us. and it shows just how close you all are. i mean your arms are around each other. in one point he s on your back or your shoulders. you guys just look like you re having a lot of fun. what is that? tell us about that bond that you shared. absolutely. i mean we re all so close here. z and me particular i mean we were roommates. you know we slept within ten feet of each other every night for two years. he came home with me on spring break. we did everything together. he s just just the bond is incredible. i mean he s like a brother. i mean i ve only known him for two years and i know him better than many people i ve known my whole life. devin, you talked to z. you saw him the morning right before he left to get on the
our son was midship justin zemser. he was born on march 25th 1995. he was his high school valedictorian and was just finishing up his second year as midshipman at the united states naval academy. he was a loving son, nephew and cousin. well that was susan zemser the mother of 20-year-old naval academy midshipman justin zemser who is among the seven people killed in tuesday s amtrak train derailment. we are joined this morning by justin s close friends, his teammate and his roommate brandon teal. guys thanks so much for being on new day. we re so sorry for your loss. thank you, ma am. absolutely. we know that you called your friend justin z in honor of his last name. we want to talk about z this
morning with you. devin i want to start with you because we understand all of the midshipman were called in to a meeting to get the news of z s death. can you tell us about that moment? yes. we were all together for a brief. and we were all sitting together and the brief was delayed rather for about 45 minutes. and we started looking around because it s not typical in the military. and we decided or we noticed that when the come daunt came on and said justin had passed it kind of took us all back and we were all in shock for a little bit. of course. of course you were. brandon, you were his roommate. i have to tell you, the more i read about z the more impressive he is. i mean he sounds really extraordinary. he was the valedictorian of his high school he was the class president in high school he was the captain of his football team he wanted to be a navy s.e.a.l. it sounds like not just you his