[3] On 2 February 1968 Cheatham was at Phu Bai Combat Base when he was ordered into Huế to take command of his companies already engaged in the Battle of Hue.

Before leaving for Huế, Cheatham reviewed Marine urban fighting doctrine which recommended staying off the streets and moving forward by blasting through walls and buildings.

"During Operation Hue City, Colonel Cheatham led his battalion in extremely heavy house-to-house fighting against a numerically superior North Vietnamese Army force.

Colonel Cheatham's dynamic and heroic leadership and his unflagging example inspired all who observed him and contributed greatly to the defeat of the enemy and to their subsequent withdrawal from the city.

His dauntless courage and unfaltering devotion to duty upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

He was promoted to lieutenant general in June 1985 and served as deputy chief of staff for manpower at Headquarters Marine Corps until his retirement in January 1988.

In 1987 Cheatham was considered as a potential successor to replace General Paul X. Kelley as Commandant of the Marine Corps; however, LtGen Alfred M. Gray Jr. was ultimately selected.