John William (or Wilkinson)[1] Heard (March 27, 1860 – February 4, 1922) was a United States Army Brigadier General who was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for valor in action on July 23, 1898, near Bahia Honda, Cuba.

[3] Several of his classmates would go on to become general officers in their careers, such as Charles W. Kennedy, George H. Cameron, Harry C. Hale, George W. Read, Lawrence Tyson, Ira A. Haynes, Samson L. Faison, William C. Langfitt, Robert D. Walsh, Omar Bundy, Charles G. Morton, Tyree R. Rivers, John W. Ruckman, Isaac Littell and Clarence R. Edwards.

[2] He departed Florida with his unit and 40-50 Cuban soldiers aboard the wooden fruit transport Wanderer, landing near the mouth of the Mani-Mani River near Bahia Hondo, west of Havana.

After the war, Heard commanded the 9th Cavalry Regiment at Camp Stotsenburg in the Philippines from September 1919 to November 1920.

Returning to the United States, he commanded the 14th Cavalry Regiment at Fort Sam Houston from December 1920 to January 1922.