Milestones Aug. 1, 2005

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DIED. EDWARD HEATH, 89, moderate leader of Britain's Conservative Party who, as Prime Minister from 1970 to '74, brought Britain into Europe's Economic Community (now called the European Union); in Salisbury, England. His tenure was wracked with difficulties--an economy weakened by an oil crisis and by violence in Northern Ireland--and in 1975 a rising Margaret Thatcher ousted him from the party leadership. Although largely marginalized, he remained in the House of Commons until his retirement in 2001.

DIED. WILLIAM WESTMORELAND, 91, consummate military man who oversaw the buildup of U.S. troops in Vietnam from 1964 to '68 and was vilified for it; in Charleston, S.C. The strapping West Point star led battalions in World War II and Korea and landed in Vietnam as the great hope of Washington bigwigs. But after the 1968 Tet offensive fueled opposition to the war, he was brought home to the lower-profile position of Army Chief of Staff. The $120 million libel suit he filed in 1982 against CBS, over a story that claimed he misled the White House and the public about enemy troop strength, also ended with a whimper and was settled with both sides claiming victory. Still, he inspired enthusiasm among many of those he commanded--"He was the storybook soldier, South Carolina Eagle Scout, a born leader," retired General Wesley Clark told TIME. "I've been hung in effigy. I've been spat upon," Westmoreland said. "I have no apologies, no regrets. I gave my very best efforts."

DIED. GERALDINE FITZGERALD, 91, striking Dublin-born actress whose open frustration with her Hollywood studio bosses kept her largely in supporting roles but who still carved out a respected career; in New York City. She played Bette Davis' devoted friend in Dark Victory, got an Oscar nomination for William Wyler's Wuthering Heights and made an acclaimed comeback onstage in 1971 as Mary Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night.