A San Antonio singer who told viewers of “America's Got Talent” on Monday that he was flown out of Afghanistan after being badly injured in a grenade blast was actually evacuated for an ear problem, according to the National Guard.
Timothy Michael Poe, a sergeant who delivered supplies, had been in Afghanistan for just over a month in summer 2009, Master Sgt. Daniel Ewer, a Minnesota National Guard spokesman, said Wednesday.
“There's a medical issue with his ears,” he said, adding he had no additional information.
A news release issued by the guard countered Poe's claim of having been injured in Afghanistan, sparking a flurry of stories, blogs and comments on the Internet accusing him of manufacturing the tale.
Neither Poe nor two family members returned phone messages.
Poe was treated at San Antonio Military Medical Center, but spokesman Dewey Mitchell said he could not reveal the content of medical records without Poe's permission.
Mitchell said Poe was assigned to Fort Sam Houston's Warrior Transition Battalion and was there from September 2009 until he was medically retired in May 2011.
U.S. Army North spokesman Don Manuszewski confirmed that Poe used the Warrior and Family Support Center. The director of the facility, Judith Markelz, said she vaguely remembered him.
The San Antonio Express-News left a message on Poe's phone asking him to give SAMMC permission to release his records.
Another Minnesota Guard spokesman, Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, said Wednesday that Poe told him in a message that “he would like to discuss with me his case and provide more information.”
“I returned his call and he did not pick up and he did not return my call,” Olson said.