'My name is Patrick John Duggan and I was - am - a soldier.' So begins the story of Pat Duggan's life in the Army, and service in the Vietnam War as a Gunner in 161 Battery, Royal New Zealand Artillery. New Zealand is a nation that prides itself on its military history. We like to celebrate our soldiers, and to tell and retell the stories of their exploits. Yet our part in the Vietnam War has been largely overlooked. New Zealand's involvement in the combat phase of this controversial war was politically and emotionally charged at the time: the subject has remained fraught ever since. But contribute we did, and when eventually combat soldiers were sent, it was members of the Regular Force, professionals - men like Duggan - who went.

Like their predecessors in World Wars One and Two, these men did their government's bidding and risked all in the service of their country. It's just that when they returned, the government didn't want to know. Duggan's war was typical of many who served, and he describes it unflinchingly and without embellishment or embarrassment. He is proud to have served, and to have continued to serve his comrades-at-arms since his return. As the nation recovers its collective memory of this chapter in our military history, it will be to men such as Pat Duggan that we are indebted for having the courage to speak, let alone serve.

New for Anzac Day 2011, What Have They Done to the Rain? is an important contribution to New Zealand's proud military history, a soldier's eye view of an unpopular war.