Let be the normal subgroups of orders . Their intersection is a subgroup of both, so Lagrange's theorem makes its order divide both and ; hence . For and , normality shows that belongs to both and . It must be the identity, so . This proves the needed instance of normal subgroups of coprime order commute.
Choose nonidentity and . Their orders are and , since these orders divide the respective prime subgroup orders. If , commutativity gives , so and . Conversely . Thus the product of commuting elements of coprime order gives an element of order .
For the counterexample, take the dihedral group of symmetries of a regular pentagon:
Its ten elements are and , . Nonidentity rotations have order , and , so all reflections have order . There is no element of order .