Last night, viewers were treated to one surprisingly impressive act on America's Got Talent: Andrew De Leon, a gothic-looking opera singer.
They were also treated to one controversial contestant: Timothy Poe, a veteran who claimed to have developed a major stutter after suffering an injury in Afghanistan. You can watch video of his audition and backstory here...
HOWEVER, multiple sources have now come forward and are casting doubt on Poe's assertion that a RPG blast in 2009 resulted in this brain-damaged condition.
First, there's the Minnesota National Guard, which said in a statement to Yahoo! TV: "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.
Then, there's investigative work by The Associated Press, which dispute Poe's self-proclaimed 14 years of service and state it could only find evidence that he was a specialist for nine years and did not receive a Purple Heart, which is handed out to all military personnel injured in combat.
Finally, there's this simple quotes from Poe's ex-wife to The New York Post: "There were no combat injuries. I think he developed a 'feel sorry for me' stutter."
Poe tells TMZ, however, that it's not unusual for there to be medical record snafus coming out of Afghanistan and that he DID receive treatment at a medical facility in that country before moving to one in Landstuhl, Germany.
But he also said, citing legal reasons, that he cannot produce any evidence to back up these claims.
What do you think of all this? Do you believe Timothy Poe's story?
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