G.I. Jose — ‘A Real Mexican Hero’ — Is Real And His Van Is Glorious

Just when I thought nothing on the world wide web would captivate me today, the above image of a real “Real Mexican Hero” struck me down with awesome while perusing both Tumblr and Reddit. He is quickly taking over the internet. What’s that? You have so many questions? Me too! Let me provide what little background info I’ve gathered.

Two days ago Redditor mouthhugz (no thank you) shared the above image in r/Awesome with the caption, “Driving in Dallas when I came upon a real American hero.” The image gained mild traction but then another Redditor today shared the same image with a better title to a larger audience and — BAM! — G.I. Jose IRL is now a thing.

But wait. Just a few hours later ANOTHER Redditor jumped in with below image entitled, “This is what the inside of GI Jose’s van looks like,” providing some insight as to where real-life G.I. Jose sleeps, how safety conscious he is, and what he thinks of Texas as a state (hint: it’s delicious).

The odd thing to me is that none of these original posters have shared any additional info, especially the guy who got a shot inside G.I. Jose’s VW van. How did that happen? My guess is this is all the masterful work of real-life G.I. Jose himself, virally promoting his legend while leaving several layers of mystery intact. That or this is Seth MacFarlane’s attempt to get us to quit talking about The Oscars.

All I know for sure is that if a Cobra Comandante surfaces my head will explode simultaneously with the internet.

Original Image: Reddit