Controversial AMERICA’S GOT TALENT singer Timothy Michael Poe is sharing personal military and medical documents to back up his claim that he was injured in a 2009 grenade blast in Afghanistan.
Poe suffers from “injury or disease received in the line of duty as a direct result of armed conflict or caused by an instrumentality of war and incurred in the line of duty during a period of war,” according to April 26, 2011 orders from Fort Hood.
A second document titled “Statement of Medical Examination and Duty Status” reads: ”SM states that injury and disease occurred as a result of a hand grenade exploding to the right side of his head in Afghanistan in July 2009.”
A third document also indicates that Sgt. Poe’s injuries occurred “in blast in July of this year.”
A spokesperson for the US Army and a spokesperson from the Minnesota National Guard have both said they are unable to verify the source or date of Poe’s injuries — despite the documents.
In a statement Thursday, Lt. Col. Kevin Olson of the Minnesota National Guard told AGTNews:
“I have personally reviewed the documents provided by Mr. Timothy Poe to the media. I have also received comments regarding them from qualified professionals at the Minnesota National Guard’s Office of the State Surgeon to support this response. After researching documents Mr. Poe provided media, he appears to lack the required justification to conclusively prove his injuries are combat-related. Absent this lack of supporting justification, it’s impossible to prove Mr. Poe’s injuries resulted from combat action. If Mr Poe has additional information to support his claims, we welcome it, and we will also continue to investigate and if appropriate, pursue a correction to his medical records and status.”
Poe granted an interview yesterday to The New York Post in which he said that a brain injury that resulted from the grenade blast has caused him to experience periodic memory loss.
“To be honest, I really do not remember a lot of things since the accident,” he said.Poe also said he never intended to disgrace his military family or use his veteran status for personal gain.
“I know that soldiers lost their lives over there and my heart goes out to their family,” he said. “I never tried to take anything away from their sacrifice. I just wanted to bring attention to the soldiers who are still alive who were injured and have given up on their dreams. “
He chalked up the holes in his emotional story to “incomplete facts.”
“I would like to take the time to tell the the American people how truly sorry I am that they had to endure the incomplete facts,” he said. “I understand how they feel.”
