For U.S. troops in Iraq, punk rock concert a welcome distraction.(The Dallas Morning News)

Byline: Gretel C. Kovach

BAGHDAD, Iraq _ For one hour on New Year's Eve, slam-dancing soldiers put the war in Iraq and the progress and pitfalls of the last year on hold during a punk rock concert on a downtown military base.

The Vandals and a guest drummer from Pennywise rocked soldiers stationed in Baghdad with the 1st Cavalry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, during an evening concert in the secured enclave known as the Green Zone.

"Haji was a punk just like any other boy! ... Oy!" lead singer David Quackenbush screamed into the microphone, using a nickname soldiers commonly use for Iraqis.

Scores of soldiers nodded their heads, pumped their fists in the air, and danced at an auditorium at Forward Operating Base Union III, or Trojan. But one soldier plugged his ears at the thunder of their first racing riffs.

"It's kind of like what (Secretary of Defense Donald) Rumsfeld said. You rock out to the band you have, not the band you wish you had," Quackenbush had joked before the show.

The musicians packed their gear into two Black Hawk helicopters and spent the holidays performing at several bases throughout Iraq and Kuwait to support the troops, they said.