Timothy Poe in service. (Timothy Poe)
Army documents supplied by Poe indicate that he was injured in the line of duty — but fellow soldiers have called aspects of his story into question. (
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Stuttering “America’s Got Talent” singer Timothy Poe defended his war-time injuries for the TV show fiasco that has his fellow soldiers calling him a fraud.
“It may not have happened exactly like I said it did,” he told The Post.
“I really do not remember a lot of things since the accident.
“I remember a blast going off by my head and being in Afghanistan and telling one of the sergeants,” he said.
“It is like a dream . . . I can’t remember things exactly how it happened.”
The father of two has been under fire since his appearance Monday night on the NBC talent. During his emotional audition, Poe, 35, told a tear-jerking story of how he was nearly killed by a grenade in the line of duty.
Since then, soldiers from his unit have called Poe’s story a lie and the Minnesota National Guard has said it could not substantiate his claims.
He even told the judges he’d never sung before coming back from Afghanistan, which his friends and family also said was not true.
“I was in a band,” Poe admitted. “But it was before the accident. And at the time of ‘AGT,’ when the judges asked, before I could even think about answering, my words had already came out.”
Poe, who answered questions by e-mail, supplied The Post with documents that indicate he was injured in the line of duty in Afghanistan but do not say how or when.
Poe insists that he never intended to exaggerate his military status for personal gain.
According to his official retirement orders, Poe suffers from an “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.”
But an Army spokesperson tells The Post that Poe was only in Afghanistan for less than a month and their records are incomplete and do not confirm where or when the injury took place.
“It hurts me that people would think I left for a ear infection in the time that we were defending our country,” Poe says.
But Poe’s credibility continues to be called in to question.
On Wednesday he admitted to claiming military medals — including the Purple Heart — which he didn’t earn. Poe also submitted a photo to AGT producers which turned out to be another soldier in uniform.
On the show, Poe said he only discovered he could sing after a speech therapist suggested it could help with his stutter — which also turned out to be a lie.
“I do not know how to explain why I answered about never singing before,” he says. “I was in a band. But it was before the accident and at the time of AGT.
When the judges asked, before I could even think about answering my words had already came out.”
“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. I understand how they feel.”
Additional reporting by David K. Li