NBCAmerica's Got Talent contestant Sgt. Tim Poe certainly is a standout this season, but not for the right reasons.
The 35-year-old aspiring country singer revealed on Monday's episode that he spent 14 years in the military and was seriously injured in 2009 during his tour in Afghanistan, even earning a Purple Heart for his service. The Minnesota Army National Guard and several fellow soldiers, however, said this was not the case.
In a new interview with the New York Post, Poe apologizes for not exactly presenting the real facts surrounding his military service…
"It may not have happened exactly like I said it did," he says. "I really do not remember a lot of things since the accident."
Poe does recall "a blast going off by my head and being in Afghanistan and telling one of the sergeants, but he said the experience "is like a dream" and reiterates he "can't remember things exactly how [they] happened."
The father of two admits to claiming military medals he didn't really earn and using a photo of another soldier in uniform as part of his performance.
He also claimed on the show that he only discovered he could sing after a speech therapist told him it could help with his stutter, but this was not the case.
"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."
"I would like to take the time to tell the American people how truly sorry I am that they had to endure the incomplete facts," he adds. "I understand how they feel."