Two of the six San Antonio Fire Department cadets dismissed from the academy earlier this month broke their silence Tuesday, in a lengthy sit-down interview with the KENS 5 I-Team.
"It's like your whole world is taken away from you," said one of the cadets, during the interview at the headquarters of the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association.
Both cadets asked the I-Team to conceal their names and identities, so as not to hurt their chances of landing a firefighting job with another department.
Both men also said their dismissals came after they spent 14 months apiece jumping through hurdles to get accepted into SAFD's academy.
The two men were among the six cadets dismissed from the department on Aug. 18, weeks after the group had consumed alcohol during a lunch at a San Antonio area Twin Peaks.
The cadets said they were dismissed for the day from rotations at University Hospital around 10 a.m., and after changing out of their SAFD cadet uniforms, agreed to meet for lunch at the restaurant.