America's Got Talent Tim Poe a Fraud or a Hero

Tim Poe walked onto the America’s Got Talent stage on Monday with a story to rival the saddest of sob stories.  But did America Get Had? Turns out, in Poe’s case, this sad story might be a big fat lie.
Tim Poe’s life according to Tim Poe – The war veteran suffered brain damage and developed a stutter after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Afghanistan. As if that isn’t gut wrenching enough, Tim adds, he suffered these injuries because he put himself in the line of fire to help his fellow troops. But his tale might be too good to be true. Reports are now surfacing that Poe may have fabricated the whole story.

Reality TV blog Rickey.org first reported that the military records didn't match Poe's story. Poe served with the Minnesota National Guard for nine years (not 14, as he said) as a supply specialist, and they can't find any evidence of the injury he describes. "Sgt. Poe's official military records do not indicate that he was injured by a grenade in combat while serving in Afghanistan in 2009, as he reports," the Minnesota National Guard said in a statement.
Poe spoke with a pronounced stutter during the audition, which he claims he developed as a result of his war injuries. Amazingly/allegedly, Tim’s singing voice isn't affected by his stutter.

That’s Tim’s story according to Tim. However, reports are starting to surface that suggest Poe’s story doesn’t match military records. A spokesman for the National Guard Kevin Olson confirms that he indeed served with the National Guard but also stated, “We looked very closely at his record. We did not find something to substantiate what he said.” Also, there’s no record of Poe earning a Purple Heart. Olson also noted that Poe did not receive the Purple Heart, an honor given to servicemen injured in enemy combat, as he would have if his story were true.

As for whether he had received a Purple Heart or Bronze Star for his wounds, Poe admitted he did not, but noted he never claimed to have one on America's Got Talent.

Responding to Minnesota Army National Guard claims that his records fail to show the back and brain injuries he claimed to have sustained in combat and which he told judges about in an emotional moment on Monday night's episode, Poe told the You Served podcast that the army hadn't updated his file with his medevac paperwork that noted his traumatic brain injury.
"I called one of the colonels and left a message and said, 'Look I have this paperwork and I want to send this to you because I don't think you have it,'" said the veteran. "They made a statement without having the facts."
He explained that while recuperating in Germany, he had tried to get back to Afghanistan.
"I don't think that the guys in my unit were told by the sergeant…what really happened and why I had really gone and left," he said, about his abrupt airlift out of the war zone.

It's worth noting however when Howie asked him on the show whether Poe had ever sung before, the army vet answered, "I didn't know I could sing until my speech pathologist said it would help my stutter. She said to sing in the shower, so that's what I did."
However, news reports state that Poe was the lead singer in a band called Crawl Space while living in Minnesota.

Tim Poe

If there's one thing Poe's definitely telling the truth about, it's scoring a rare hole-in-one on a par four while golfing at Woodlake Golf Club in San Antonio last September.
"He was with a foursome, and a man I teach was behind them on the seventh hole, and he witnessed it too, so I don't have a doubt he made the one," John Clay, general manager and course pro, tells reporters.
Adding insult to injury, Poe’s ex-wife claims Poe has neither a stutter nor a sad story to tell.