Did the appearance of the Land Girl on the music box base indicate that from Italy, a soldier in the 10th Mountain Division had sent the gold-infused Book of Hours to his farm worker sweetheart? If this was what had happened, the issues in tracing these lovers seemed insurmountable. Before they were eventually sent to the Italian front, in the 1940's, over 15,000 soldiers trained in high mountain warfare at Camp Hale. Over 1.5 million women were at work on American farms in 43 states between 1943 and 1945 -- planting crops, harvesting crops, picking fruit, milking cows, cleaning stables, driving tractors, trucking produce.

Because many of the men at Camp Hale came from New England, the "land girl" might have worked in Vermont or New Hampshire. If she bunked with other women, sharing stories of sweethearts overseas, maybe someone would remember her. But it was just as likely that she had been isolated on the many acres of a rural farm.