James Sherrill's July 30 letter ("Obama doesn't care about soldiers") states that Barack Obama "does not care to visit his own wounded warriors," a charge that is based upon misinformation promulgated on the stump and in a television ad by John McCain's campaign under the leadership of Karl Rove's thugs.

In fact, Sen. Obama has visited our wounded troops numerous times unaccompanied by press, both at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and recently in Iraq. According to The Washington Post -- not exactly a liberal voice -- McCain's allegation is baseless: "In fact, there is no evidence that he (Obama) planned to take anyone to the American hospital other than a military adviser, whose status as a campaign staff member sparked last-minute concern among Pentagon officials that the visit would be an improper political event."

The McCain ad shows Obama shooting a basket and states that Sen. Obama "made time to go to the gym but canceled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras." The footage of Obama sinking that three-point shot was released by the military and happened during Obama's visit with troops in Kuwait. The senator's daily workout schedule had no bearing on his decision not to risk politicizing our wounded soldiers.

These distortions typically go unchallenged in The Chronicle, which has a clear Republican bias. I urge readers to consult the nonpartisan factcheck.org, which is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, for unbiased analyses of both sides' claims and counterclaims.

Finally, three major veterans organizations (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America, Vietnam Veterans of America and Disabled American Veterans) have given Obama much higher marks for support of veterans' issues than McCain, who opposed the new G.I. Bill and was AWOL when it came to a vote.

Connie Corzilius Spasser, Augusta