Dr. Milton Wirtz of Latimer
Dr. Milton Wirtz may not be a household name, unless you were raised in Latimer or were one of the ten million people around the world in World War II whom he aided. His story is both amazing and humbling.
Milton Wirtz was born August 30, 1905, in Meservey, Iowa, to William and Caroline Wirtz. He was raised in the Latimer area and attended school in Des Moines and Iowa City. His first job was working for the Des Moines School Board in their print shop. He graduated from the University of Iowa Dental School and began practicing dentistry in 1937 in Latimer.
Two weeks after Pearl Harbor he was commissioned a First Lieutenant and joined the 345th Artillery Division at Camp Crowder, Missouri. He oversaw the lab where 140 dentists had become interested in plastic in his dental practice. He made plastic dentures and tried plastic obturators for persons with cleft palates to enable them to speak more clearly.
While at work in the lab, one of the dental lab technicians had some plastic fly into his eye, resulting in the loss of the eye. The lab technician was despondent over the quality of the glass eye he was provided. Eyes of glass were easily broken and could explode when there was a sudden change in temperature.
Prior to WW II, the special glass used for artificial eyes came exclusively from Germany. The methods used were closely guarded secrets passed down from father to son. Due to the war, the German glass was hard to come by; but the need for glass eyes was high. The young man asked Dr. Wirtz if he could help him.
Dr. Wirtz set out to create an artificial eye from plastic and materials used in the manufacture of dentures. The biggest problem he faced was that the dies (forms) were made of stainless steel. There was no cutting device to drill the material so that it was exact. He developed a method to scrape the stainless steel rather than cut it, creating a mirror-finish on the plastic. He practiced on rabbits for his eye implants, developing a tiny acrylic ball with red veins. He sewed muscles in the head to an implant, and the eye was fitted over the implant. The eye was much more natural, fit perfectly, moved correctly and absorbed rather than reflected light, making it look like a normal eye. His eye was perfectly matched in color to the patient’s real eye with little red veins made from dyed sweet corn silk.
Officials at the camp, impressed with the technician’s eye, notified US Surgeon General Norman Kirk, who immediately gave Dr. Wirtz more time for research. Upon seeing the plastic eye for himself, the Surgeon General ordered 50,000 eyes. Within four days Russia ordered 50,000 and Mexico and Uruguay each ordered 25,000. At that time, Dr. Wirtz could only make seven eyes at a time. Since dentists were familiar with working with plastic, dental tools, and materials, he trained 31 dentists for this eye work. Each eye was painted to match the person’s real eye. Brown eyes, Dr. Wirtz said, were easy to paint; blue eyes were hard to match; and hazel eyes were the hardest. It was estimated that Dr. Wirtz fitted eyes for over 10 million soldiers in World War II! He also made eyes for Germans who were captured during the war. Major Wirtz received the Legion of Merit at Fitzsimons General Hospital from General Omar Quade.
The Wirtz eye was patented in 1945 with co-workers Capt. Stanley Erpf and Victor F Dietz. The royalties they received excluded any eye made for a member of the armed service. When his tour ended in 1947, Lieutenant Colonel Wirtz went home to Latimer with his wife, Alice, and six-year-old daughter, Margaret. He resumed his dental practice but kept his craft alive over the years by making implants for patients who needed his expert help. He retired from dentistry in 1985 and passed away in 1993.
Dr. Wirtz gained worldwide attention through his invention. He traveled across the world training and lecturing about his eye techniques. Examples of his artificial eye work are in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Although the royalties from his plastic eye made him a millionaire, he chose to live a modest life In Latimer because he enjoyed country life. In fact, he was so modest about his invention that many local people did not know about it!
The Franklin County Historical Society is very lucky to have had Dr. Wirtz donate some of his dental equipment, eye molds, and other artifacts to the museum where they can be seen in a special display in his honor.
Who says one person can’t change the world?
Much of the information for this article was gleaned from: Des Moines Register, Jack Hovelson; Globe Gazette, Mari Ann Wearda; and Hampton Chronicle, Mickey Ferris.
Dr. Wirtz working on an artificial eye.
Dr. Wirtz receives the Legion of Merit.
Dentists working in the lab.
Dental lab in Missouri.
Dr. Wirtz in his later years.