WORTHINGTON, Ohio — After losing their son to suicide, one family was urging the U.S. military and other families to take action before more lives are lost, 10TV's Cara Connelly reported.
 
On the day before Thanksgiving, Army Private Greg Tilton, a Worthington native, shot and killed himself in his apartment near Fort Riley, Kan.

Tilton, 20, had recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq.

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"By all accounts he was a good soldier - he was an excellent soldier," Tilton's father Tim Tilton said.

The family has a box full of medals to prove it.

Tilton's father said his son was a sensitive young man, who told his parents he shot and killed an 11-year-old suicide bomber while on duty in Iraq.

Tim Tilton said that violence took a tool on his son and his mental health.

"There is a huge disconnect; he had a counseling session in Iraq but when he returned, up until the day he died, he never had another one," Tim Tilton said.

Tilton's wife Molly was calling 911 for help after she said he began having a flashback to Iraq, but authorities did not arrive in time.

"We don't need any more of our soldiers doing what my son did. He was in such a dark place and not in his right mind when this happened," Tim Tilton said.

Suicides among members of the military are expected to set a record this year, Connelly reported.

The Army said one in five soldiers returns home from war suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The Tilton's said the military needs more counselors and are urging military families to speak out and demand help.

"Because right now, what's there isn't working, unfortunately, and the people we are hurting are the people out there defending our country," Tim Tilton said.

Greg Tilton's death was so closely tied to his service in Iraq that the Army called him a war casualty and allowed him to be buried with full military honors.

George Wright, the Pentagon's Army spokesman said, "The death of Gregory Tilton is certainly something that it is a great loss to the Tilton family as it is to the Army family."

Wright said that during the past several years the Army has taken steps to prevent suicide including mandatory training on suicide prevention and requiring every soldier who returns from a combat zone, to undergo a post combat assessment and a follow-up 90 days later.

The Army would not comment on whether or not Tilton received a mental assessment when he returned.

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