Timothy Poe says he doesn't know "what's reality and what's not reality" after being caught in lies about his deployment and injuries following an appearance on 'America's Got Talent'.
Poe told the show last week that he stuttered because he was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Afghanistan in 2009. The audience responded with raucous applause and the judges commended him for his service after the audition.
But Poe's story began to unravel after the Army said it had no record of Poe being injured in Afghanistan, and no record of him ever being deployed to Iraq -- as he's claimed.
Now in an interview with local station WFAA, the North Texas soldier admits that may not have been exactly what happened. Although he insists he didn't lie.
"I mean, as far as everything I said, I believe it wholeheartedly myself," says Poe. "But I feel like I'm going crazy. I really don't know right now what's reality and what's not reality."
"I don't know," he replies when asked if he had been to Iraq. "I'm thinking, why have I for the last, over two years, believed things have happened to me and they might not have?"
"I don't feel like I've lied. That's what's driving me crazy, because I truly thought things have happened to me. It's the truth that I know, it's the truth that I truly think is real. I'm sorry. I really am sorry."
But Donna Cranston, who helps soldiers and has also helped Poe with a non-profit program called Defenders of Freedom, believes he's a liar.
"I believe he's a liar, and I hate to say that," said the founder of the non-profit Defenders of Freedom. "I know we're not supposed to call people liars, but I believe he's a liar."
"I'm not angry for me, but angry that he would slap the brothers and sisters that he served alongside in the face like he has done."