Manchester native awarded Lansing PD’s medal of honor

Officer William Tervo and his family.

by Marsha Chartrand

You don’t always hear the good-guy stories of cops. Manchester has had two such stories of officers saving lives make the news in recent weeks. (See Local WCSO Collaboration Deputy named POAM officer of the year.)

The Mirror was recently notified that locally born and bred William Tervo, son of Susan and Wayne Tervo, received the Medal of Honor from the Lansing police department for his actions in rescuing four people from a car fire.

On April 4, 2023, Officer Tervo was dispatched to what was reported as a single-car accident in Lansing. When he arrived on scene, a vehicle on the north side of the road had struck a tree and was fully engulfed in flames. While the driver appeared to have already succumbed to fatal injuries, the four other occupants of the vehicle were still semi-conscious.

Disregarding his own safety, Tervo took quick and decisive action to pull four of the five occupants out of the burning car. Due to extreme heat and flames, Tervo was unable to extricate the driver from the car, and sustained injuries to his hands as well as suffering from smoke inhalation.

“Due to Officer Tervo’s heroic actions, four of the five occupants were safely removed from the vehicle and have since made a full recovery. If not for Officer Tervo’s quick response and decisive action, four additional people could have died in the burning vehicle,” said his citation from the Lansing Police Department.

On behalf of the Lansing Police Department, Officer William Tervo was awarded the department’s Medal of Honor Award.

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by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.