U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) honored Army Sergeant First Class Leo Finn of Cullman as his July Veteran of the Month, marking 36 years of service that carried the Alabama soldier from Vietnam to Afghanistan.
Tuberville released a video recognizing Finn, part of the monthly series the senator uses to spotlight Alabama veterans who kept serving their communities long after they left the uniform.
Finn’s story, as Tuberville told it, started with a sense of calling.
“The Book of Proverbs tells us that ‘without a vision, people perish.’ For Sergeant Leo Finn of Cullman, Alabama, he’s had a clear vision for his life from day one,” Tuberville said. “Leo feels he was ‘born to serve in the military,’ and spent 36 years serving our country in the Army and Army National Guard. Leo’s conviction to serve has been an asset to our country during some of the most troubling times, including the Vietnam War and War on Terror.”
Finn enlisted shortly after finishing college in Cullman and deployed quickly to Vietnam.
“He quickly deployed to Vietnam where he spent the next two years in the fight against communism in Southeast Asia,” Tuberville said. “Upon returning home, he married his wife of 54 years, Sandra, and relocated back to Cullman where they have spent the last five decades working and raising their family.”
Decades later, Finn answered the call again.
“He deployed a second time in the early 2000s to Afghanistan where he served as a Platoon Sergeant, sharing this same sense of purpose with those in his company,” Tuberville said. “From Alabama to Vietnam to Afghanistan, Leo has made the Yellowhammer State proud. Now, he stays involved in the Cullman community through his membership at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church and his local VFW Post.”
Tuberville closed on the fight Finn has taken on more recently, a cancer diagnosis he has met the same way he met everything else.
“Over the last few years, Leo has faced cancer head-on, but it hasn’t slowed him down or made him lose his vision,” Tuberville said. “He faced his diagnosis with the same philosophy he faced our enemies abroad: with bravery and without fear.”
“I am thankful for Leo’s calling to serve our state and country through all the challenges he’s faced. It is my honor to recognize him as the July ‘Veteran of the Month,’” Tuberville said.
The recognition is part of the final Veteran of the Month series of Tuberville’s Senate tenure as he runs for governor in 2026.
Constituents can nominate an Alabama veteran by emailing his office at [email protected].
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
