Ray Hadley has gone in to bat for veterans being stripped of their awards following the release of the war crimes report.

Thousands of veterans may lose their meritorious unit citations following the Brereton inquiry report, which uncovered 39 alleged unlawful killings of prisoners and civilians by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

None of the alleged killings occurred in the heat of battle and 19 personnel have been referred for criminal investigation.

Serving soldiers, veterans and their families will now petition the Governor-General to block the Australian Defence Force from stripping them of their citations.

“The veteran community is speechless, speechless!” said Ray Hadley.

“Why would thousands and thousands of people have their citations stripped from them because of the alleged actions of 19 people?

“This nonsense of stripping these people of their citations, is that, and it’s nonsense.”

“I think the Prime Minister needs to intervene.”

Click PLAY to listen to Ray’s full thoughts

Image: Getty