Timothy Michael Poe story
Timothy Michael Poe story,According to several sources, “America’s Got Talent” contestant Timothy Michael Poe might be a better contendert for tall-tale telling versus his country-song singing.
Specifically, the cowboy-hatted Poe’s story isn’t checking out, at least not when it comes to verifying the sympathy-yielding backstory that he shared on the Monday, June 4, installment of the popular-network talent show.
According to a June 6 AP story, “NBC's summer talent show… looked like it had found a new star this week in country singer Tim Poe, who came to the stage with a heart-tugging story: He's an Afghanistan war veteran who was injured by a rocket-propelled grenade, suffering brain damage and developing a stutter that he can only suppress while singing.”
During the TV broadcast, Poe—just before performing a rendition of “If Tomorrow Never Comes” by Garth Brooks—said he endued a broken back and brain damage while trying to rescue fellow soldiers. Recounted Poe: "There was a guy who came up with a rocket-propelled grenade. I saw it coming down, and by the time I turned and went to jump on top of my guys, I yelled 'grenade' and the blast had hit me."
However, the story that helped propel Poe to a standing ovation, favored viewer status and three “yes” votes from judges to continue on in the competition may be nothing more than sympathy-securing-meets-patriot-promoting tale that backfires on the contestant and creates a big PR snafu for the network.
The first outlet to suggest that Poe’s story may be nothing more than a bunch of hooey was Reality TV blog Rickey.org, which alerted readers that the military records didn't match Poe's story and called the soldier-turned-singer "a fraud."
In short, it’s now emerged that Poe served as a supply specialist with the Minnesota National Guard for nine years—not the 14 years he claimed--and thus far there’s no indication of the injury on file.
"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 has reported to media via a press statement.
Moreover, in an interview with AP, Lt. Col. Kevin Olson said, "We looked very closely at his record. We did not find something to substantiate what he said."
Additionally, Olsen confirmed that Poe’s military record does not indicate he is the recipient of a Purple Heart, an honor given to servicemen injured in enemy combat, which would be the case, if his heroic in-the-field story were true.
At this writing, neither Poe nor NBC-TV representatives have issued any statement in the matter. But don’t expect the wanna-be country star to last long in continued rounds unless he either comes clean or is able to back his story, for he’ll most likely lose favor—and fast--with the public, even if he manages to keep the network powers that be at bay, for now.
source: examiner