Theresa Robinson is a proud Navy veteran, married to a fellow Navy veteran. Together, they have built a beautiful family with four children and four grandchildren.
During her military service, Theresa was stationed at NAS Miramar VF-124 as a Personnelman. Her squadron played a vital role in training F-14 pilots and the maintenance crews who kept those legendary aircraft mission-ready.
With over 25 years of real estate experience, Theresa is a licensed Realtor and Associate Broker who is passionate about her work—especially when it comes to helping fellow veterans achieve their dream of homeownership.
Theresa is an active member of the veteran community. She currently is a member of American Legion Walter Durkee Post 311,American Legion Auxiliary Post 459, and proudly serves with the Kent County Veterans Honor Guard, ensuring veterans receive the honors they deserve.
Her leadership experience includes serving as Past Commander of American Legion Gerald R. Ford Post 258, Executive Board Member for Northeastern Post 459, Adjutant for Walter Durkee Post 311, and Past Commander of the United Veterans Council of Kent County.
Theresa is also an engaged member of the Michigan Women Veterans Coalition, where she champions initiatives like the “SHE is a VETERAN” project and the annual Women Veterans Conference, working to bring visibility, recognition, and support to women who have served.
Full Transcript:
Shelley Irwin: Theresa Robinson is a proud Navy veteran, married to a fellow Navy veteran. Together, a beautiful family, four kids and four grandchildren, but lots happened before this, her military service stationed at NAS Miramar VF 124. Let's continue to have the conversation with you, Theresa, as you certainly have been and are an active member of the veteran community, continue serving in leadership, an engaged member of the Michigan Women Veterans Coalition. And I understand you sell a few houses here and there. Hi, Teresa.
Theresa Robinson: Hi, Shelley. I do sell a few houses here and there.
SI: How's the house market these days?
TR: The house market is still, it's still busy. Still busy. I think maybe the government shutdown has affected a little bit of the movement, my team is still doing well.
SI: Thank you for your service in the military. Is that okay to say?
TR: That is okay to say. And I will tell you that my response is always, you are worth it.
SI: Wow. You turn it over to the citizen. Thank you for that. Let's have you take us back, you would, Teresa, to your childhood journey. First of all, why the Navy as your course?
TR: That is a loaded question, and I have thought long and hard about that in my older years now. I can't tell you that I had a real affinity for the United States Navy. I can't tell you I had an affinity for ever joining the military. But came to a point in my life where that did happen and I somehow, some reason, I'm gonna have to say it. I've come to the conclusion it was God above that was leading me and somehow in my life I have always walked through those doors that he opened for me. And he opened the door of going to the Navy. I never did anything heroic in the military. I never did anything that was exemplary in the military. I did my job. um I did what I was taught to do and what I was asked to do. But what being in the military, serving my time in the military gave me the opportunity to be able to do what I do now. So now as I look back on it, my time in the military wasn't about serving in the military. It was about preparing me for what I do now.
SI: Wow. And yet, thank you for that service. Let's get into one of your duties, the NAS Miramar VF-124 Personnelman. How did you spend your day and how did your squadron play a vital role?
TR: Well, my squadron was the squadron that trained F-14 pilots how to fly the F-14 airplane, which in the 70s was the most elite um airplane that the United States government had. And at the same time, we were training the mechanics, the electricians, all the people needed to fix the plane because things go wrong. So we were a training squadron. We had new pilots coming in and going out, new training, uh enlisted people coming in and going out, and then going to their duty stations, sometimes aboard ship. And my job was to, I was kind of like a teacher, because my, or really a travel agent, I guess, or a real estate agent because my job was, would, every Monday morning, I would have a classroom of about 30 to 40 students that were just checking intoVF-124 to learn how to work on the airplanes. I would acclimate them to the base. would show them where everything, dispersing, sick bay, where everything was. And they would have a little, was almost like a little scavenger hunt. They would have to go check into all these different places, bring everything back to me. I would make sure all the um information was typed in properly to their service records. And then that's what I would do during the week. They would come to me and ask me questions. Where's this? Where's that? I was their contact person. And then the next Monday morning, I had another group that came in. We trained a a lot of enlisted people to work on those airplanes.
SI: Two blunt questions. Number one, are we talking Top Gun here?
TR: We are. That movie was filmed at my squadron right after I got out.
SI: What was it like being a woman in this role as you self-disclosed? This didn't happen yesterday.
TR: It did not happen yesterday. um Serving in the military was, I was, wow, I get emotional when I talk about this.
It was a good experience for me. It wasn't a big transition for my life because I was used to discipline. I went to a Catholic school my whole life and then I transferred into the military. So I was used to um being told to do things and sometimes you didn't understand why but you did them. What I was not used to was the predominantly male atmosphere that I was in and how... um not everybody is raised the same. Not everybody's parents teach them that it's not okay to not treat women well. It's not okay to do things to women. It's not okay to say things to women .So I was not, um that was hard for me. I got so I couldn't walk, I didn't have a car when I got there, so I had to walk from my barracks to the squadron. If I wore a dress uniform, the things that were hollered out of windows and said to me were things I would not repeat on the air. um So I thought, well, I'll wear my dungarees, my work uniform. And even though I'm in an office, I could still do that. Well, that wasn't very good either. Because there'd be other kind of remarks that would come out. um It just, wasn't, you had to be pretty strong within yourself. And you had to be willing some of it just to slough off, because there was nobody to go and tell anything to. If something happened, if somebody did something, if somebody said something, who are you going to tell?
SI: And I'll just ask, is it different today, do you think?
TR: No.
SI: We'll carry on on that one.
TR: I do not think it is. I will say that because I'm a mentor in the Veterans Treatment Court right now, Kent County Veterans Treatment Court. And I mentor women only that come through the treatment court. And when someone goes into the military and they're one person, and when they come out, their experiences color them and they're different when they come out. I'm gonna say almost 95 % of people are. I don't know anybody that went in one way and came out the same. um And so often times, veterans when they're out, they haven't gotten the help they need. They haven't sought out the help. They're reliving maybe things that happened to them that they don't want to think about. And they suppress things with um drugs and alcohol. Sometimes they get in trouble with the law. County has a great program that offers an opportunity if the veteran qualifies to be able to go through the Veteran Treatment Court. What they do there, it's an 18 month to 24 month program. What they do is they try to take that veteran and show them a different way of life. They connect them with the VA so they can oftentimes get their benefits. They get them into treatment. They show them a different way of life after the military. What I'm finding out is I have um the women that I have mentored are much, much younger than I am um recently out of the military. And when I talk to them and I hear their stories, they're very similar, which is infuriating to me because other people will tell you at the higher ups will say that things are better and we're doing this and we're doing that, but things are still happening.
SI: Thank you for that. What was a thrill of your service? Oh, the thrill was airplanes.
TR: I have to tell you, I mean, that was a thrill. My biggest thrill was meeting my husband.
SI: you married a Navy man?
TR: I did marry a Navy man. um That was my biggest thrill was meeting him and marrying him. And we'll be married 50 years in February. And They said it never would last, but it did. But the big throw was being around the airplanes and being around that kind of life. I was never around that. I didn't know anything about that.
SI: Yes. When do you know your active service is done? Does Uncle Sam tell you that?
TR: Well, uh you know, your enlistment is up. You sign um a contract and when your enlistment is up, up. You can renew it if you want to. My situation was different. I did my active duty time and then I did some active reserve time. It was difficult doing active reserves on an active duty base because people didn't care for you. Back in the 70s, they didn't really care for you. Everybody wanted to get out. The minute they got in, they wanted to get out. And so here's this active reservist coming in once a month and I can go home. Every night, I'm only coming in once a month. So I wasn't treated very well and I was married at that time and lo and behold, I got pregnant for my first child. And being a personnel man, I typed up my discharge papers and I took them to my ah community officer and I said, sir, I'm pregnant and I need to get out. And he looked at me and he said, you know that if you get out now because of being pregnant, you can never come back in. And I said, I'm okay with that. Thank you.
SI: And three kids later, four kids now that you have. And your four grandchildren as well. Theresa, I want to continue the roles now that you lead uh as a Kent County Vet Honor Guard.
TR: I'm a member of the Kent County Veterans Honor Guard. um I'm sure maybe some of your listeners know, maybe some of your listeners don't know. If you've ever had a veteran in your family that passed away, oftentimes it's the Honor Guard that shows up to um provide military honors. And it's a wonderful service that is, it's a group of volunteers. Everything is volunteer. They show up uh for the funeral. They do the complete military honors, just like at Arlington. We might not be quite as snappy as Arlington, but we're all older. uh But we certainly do our best. And what it means to families is, um it's unbelievable what people are so moved by that service that we do. It's a 20 minute, half hour service and it's a very beautiful service and it's very moving. And it's a great example to our young people because there's, oftentimes that veteran has grandkids, nieces, nephews that are young and they see these people come in in their uniforms and it's like, wow, my grandpa did that, my grandma did that, the one that had passed away. uh they served too, and here these people are honoring this person, and there's a lot of talk about how the President of the United States appreciates their service, thanks your loved one for their service, and it's a beautiful ceremony.
SI: Your leadership also includes, goodness gracious, there's a past commander of the American Legion, Gerald R. Ford, post-258, other auxiliaries, there's so much for you to do in this space now?
TR: There is a lot to do. um When I joined the Legion over 23 years ago, thought I'm just going to join an organization three months into it, I was the second vice commander and went up the chairs. I was the commander there. And I was very new to the Legion and didn't know much. not all of the gentlemen were nice to me. But I stood my ground and um learned a lot, and I joined the United Veterans Council of Kent County, and I was commander there for three years. And in the council, you're exposed to all the veteran um organizations in the county, and you try to showcase what they've got going on, try to support them, responsible for the parades in town, Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Just so happened that at the time that I was commander, they had a lot of trouble at the vet's home and kind of got involved in that. Learned a lot um doing that. We were able to make um a big indent in um helping to make sure that the vets at the vet's home were getting good care. And then I went from there to, um I served on the executive board at post 459, and then I went to post 311, and I've been their adjutant for the last 10 years or so. And in the course of the, every time you do, every time you fill a position with the Legion, you learn more about the Legion and you learn more about what the American Legion has to offer.
SI: What is the focus of an American Legion for the layman?
TR: It's for layman. is to serve veterans and veterans families. And it is to be our voice in Washington. The American Legion has the largest voice in Washington, DC to make sure that we keep our VA benefits that they continue to grow, that they're not taking them away from us. If there's not someone thereto speak up for veterans, veterans are gonna lose their benefits. And that's why I encourage everyone that's listening, if you're a veteran and you're not a Legionnaire, please join a Legion.
SI: You champion an initiative like the She Is a Veteran Project, what is it?
TR: Well, she is a veteran I kinda got talked into. I didn't know exactly what I was getting into. um I was-
SI: Which is kind of a common theme.
TR: It is.
SI: And it's a compliment.
TR: Okay.
SI: It is.
TR: It is, guess. um I was uh working fast and furiously to bring women veterans together in Kent County. Andin doing that, I'm making my list and I've got emails and I've got numbers. Somebody let um a friend of mine, well, is a friend of mine now, but wasn't then let her know that I was doing this. She contacted me, she worked for the MVAA, and they were trying to do something to showcase veterans. We met, we talked, and she says, oh, we've got this campaign going on. We're gonna do this, it's called She Is a Veteran, and you we'll just come and take a few pictures, and we just wanna interview you, and we'll do a video, and I said, oh, okay, I can do that, you know, because they probably wanted somebody of my age group, and I did that. And then it came, well, and then it was supposed to be a big campaign and then COVID hit. Because COVID hit ,their plan was, which I did not know at the time, their plan was to take photos that they had taken. There were six or seven of us around the state of Michigan that they did, that they showcased, and take big, huge photos and have them in the DMVs.
SI: Ooh, life size.
TR: All over the state of Michigan like I would be in the DMVs in this area, because this is where I'm from. And I said, oh, I don't know. Oh, it's going to be good. It's going to be good. I said, OK. But then COVID hit. So none of that happened. Then we had our um first Women Veterans Conference. m And the first one was in Lansing .And I'm standing there talking to somebody at the mixer. And um the person standing there looking at me, and they just they kept looking at me and then looking beyond me and then looking at me and looking beyond me. And I said, what are you looking at? And she said, you got to turn around. And I turned around and here was this huge like size of you. was all of me? It was just right there. And I said, oh my gosh. And then my friend from the MVA came up and said, I forgot to tell you, we were going to have those here.so it's been it was a it was a very, good campaign to show people of Michigan that you can look like me, you can be my age, you can sound like me, and have served your country, and please don't forget that. And that's what this is all, the whole program is all about lifting women veterans up because we are overlooked all the time. I can go, I was in a restaurant with my husband and he had a Navy hat on, I had a uh t-shirt on that said, proud woman veteran I served in the Navy.
SI: He got the free coffee.
TR: The person waiting on them, who happened to be a woman veteran, reached over me and shook his hand and said, thank you for your service. I don't need anybody to thank me for my service. I'm OK with it. You don't have to thank me. But I would like women veterans to be recognized. So I do make a big deal about it. Because at some point in time, I may have a granddaughter that might want to go into the military. I want them treated well. I want them recognized for their service. None of my kids went in, um, and I, I just stood there and my husband said, you know, she's a veteran too. And she reached across and she's the, and she's, I'm so sorry. Thank you for your service. And I,I looked at her and I said, and I probably shouldn't have, but I said, you know, you're a day late and a dollar short here you're a woman veteran yourself, you never should have reached across me.
SI: Could she have learned from that moment?
TR: She could have. She could have. And I train real estate agents. I have trained quite a few. And when I'm training them, I always tell them when you first sit down with a couple, do not look at the man and say, did you serve in the military? Because possibly they qualify for a VA loan. You look at both of them and you ask them both. Did either of you serve in the military? Because it's very disrespectful for women to be overlooked like that. So that's what this whole campaign is about. It's about being seen as someone who served their country.
SI: You should have had a fifth kid. That kid might have gone into the military.
TR: Maybe.
SI: What are your thoughts about zero out of four choosing?
TR: I mean, nothing. That's OK. Is that OK, Mom? They get to do what they want to. I did what I wanted to do. My dad did not want me to go in. He was a World War II vet. And he did not, I'm the youngest of four, and he did not want me to um join the military. He was not happy with me. He was very proud of me when I came home from boot camp and every time I came home, but he just did not want to see his daughter go in.
SI: How do we best recognize, celebrate, uh talk to our neighbors about Veterans Day, Veterans Month? How do we keep your service alive?
TR: My service as a woman or military service in particular?
SI: Let's go with military service first.
TR: You've alluded to... You know what I think the general public can do as we approach Veterans Day? Take 10 minutes and sit down for a minute and think about all those things that you do in your life. You can go to any church you want to. You can go to any restaurant and eat. You can sit, I can sit here and talk to you freely about anything. I can go to any school I want to. I can drive any car I want to. I can get medical care where I want to get medical care. All those, I can say what I want to say. And I don't, I don't care what side of the fence you are on politically, but you can demonstrate. I could have my rally in Lansing for women veterans because of people who served in the military. If it wasn't for the people that served in the military, you would not have those freedoms. This country might look much, much different. And so I ask people, you may not know when you run into a veteran, but I ask people as you approach Veterans Day, sit down quietly and remember those veterans, the ones that died in service, the ones that still are home but piece of them is gone, some that are injured, some that have those wounds that you can't see. Think about them, say a prayer for them, send a good thought for them. But not just them, do that on Veterans Day. But the rest of the year, when you see a veteran, walk up to them and say thank you for your service. And please do not assume because their wife maybe doesn't have a hat on or a t-shirt on, don't assume they didn't serve because they very well may have.
SI: Back to present day, Teresa Robinson, what's it going to take to sell a home these days? Pumpkin bread in the oven.
TR: Pricing it right. Listening to your real estate agent. You hire that expert for a reason. And um there needs to be an adjustment in thinking for sellers a little bit right now. And so they need to listen to whoever that professional is that they hired.
SI: You a proud Navy veteran. Thank you for your service, Teresa Robinson.
TR: Thank you. And you were definitely worth it. And so were all your listeners.
