Man who criticised Caitlyn Jenner coverage in viral Facebook post learns important lesson about irony

This was the week that Caitlyn Jenner revealed her female identity via a Vanity Fair cover.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive, but some people believe the media coverage went too far in praising Caitlyn.

Among them was Terry Coffey, from Oregon in the US. He posted a photo on Facebook apparently showing a World War 2 soldier carrying another wounded soldier on his back, while he fired a pistol, accompanied with the words:

As I see post after post about Bruce Jenner's transition to a woman, and I hear words like, bravery, heroism, and courage, just thought I’d remind all of us what real American courage, heroism, and bravery looks like!

The post went viral and has now been shared more than 800,000 times, and Coffey planned a follow-up post to credit the photographer of the image.

He wrote:

The photo that accompanied my words yesterday to highlight "true bravery," was chosen from a quick image search. Just wanted something to fit my words. This afternoon, I wanted to find out who the photographer was, so I could credit his work.

In an ironic twist, I have discovered that the photo is part of a documentary created by a man who was beaten nearly to death outside of a bar in 2000.

That man was Mark Hogancamp, who spent nine days in a coma and suffered severe brain damage and was unable to walk or talk for a year.

Hogancamp attempted to almost literally build a new life for himself by making a one-sixth scale Belgian town and staging World War 2 reconstructions. His work is the subject of an upcoming documentary.

Why was he almost beaten to death in 2000? Because he was a cross-dresser.

Coffey continued:

I could have chosen any one of hundreds of photos depicting bravery, but I chose this one. Do I think it was an accident?

No, I don't.

What happened to this man was cruel, wrong, and unforgivable.

Hate helps nothing

Love wounds no one and God heals all. (and irony makes you think)

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