Code-name Renata: Army honors 102-year-old Italian woman who parachuted into history

U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Chad B. Harness with Paola Del Din, the first Italian female parachutist to jump into combat, at her home in Italy, April 9, 2026. (Catessa Palone/U.S. Army)

VICENZA, Italy — U.S. personnel from an Army base named for an Italian resistance fighter slain during World War II paid a recent visit to his 102-year-old sister’s home to recognize her contributions to airborne operations.

Paola Del Din was awarded the Order of Saint Michael-Airborne by visiting members of the Army’s Southern European Task Force, Africa, in a small ceremony in northern Italy on April 9. The Americans traveled from their headquarters at Caserma Del Din in Vicenza.

“Her service, her bravery and her lifelong dedication to the ideals we defend continue to inspire generations of paratroopers on both sides of the Atlantic,” Command Sgt. Maj. Chad Harness said in an Army statement.

U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Chad B. Harness presents a medal to Paola Del Din, the first Italian female parachutist to jump into combat, at her home in Italy, April 9, 2026. (Catessa Palone/U.S. Army)

The diminutive gray-haired woman, wearing a cardigan nearly the same maroon as the medal’s ribbon, gripped a wooden cane in one hand as Harness draped the award around her neck.

More than 80 years earlier, she carried out a mission in the far northeastern corner of Italy to bring important documents to Allied troops in the final days of the war.

She parachuted into the Nazi-occupied area, becoming the first Italian woman to make a combat jump.

The medal is awarded by the National Infantry Association and honors those who have made significant contributions while serving on airborne, air assault or special operations status.

The Order of Saint Michael Award, which was presented to Paola Del Din. (Catessa Palone/U.S. Army)

It is inscribed with a scene of the sword-wielding archangel and patron saint of airborne operations, his sandaled foot on Satan’s neck.

“It is an honor to receive this award,” Del Din said. “I fondly remember the great kindness of the American aviators when I flew with them, and I’m grateful to still be involved with the greater airborne community.”

After graduating from university during World War II, Paola Del Din joined the resistance fighting Italy’s Fascist government and Nazi occupiers alongside her older brother Renato, according to biographies on the National Association of Italian Partisans website.

Her brother was killed a few months later while conducting a nighttime attack on a Fascist barracks in Tolmezzo.

Taking the code name Renata in his honor, Del Din would take part in many dangerous assignments herself as a courier and informant, eventually crossing on foot into territory held by the Allies in Florence.

Once there, she lobbied to attend a four-day paratrooper course at San Vito dei Normanni in the Puglia region, located in the boot heel of Italy, so she could more quickly return to the occupied North to continue her work.

In September 1944, she attended the course, run by the British Special Operations Executive, an outfit that trained partisans in sabotage and subversion during the war. She went on to take part in 11 flights, according to her biography.

In the fateful jump of April 9, 1945, the 20-year-old broke her ankle in a hard landing but managed to reach the partisans and deliver the documents.

Still limping throughout the remaining days of the war, she repeatedly crossed the battle lines to deliver messages to advancing Allied forces.

For their courage, both siblings were individually awarded Italy’s Gold Medal for Military Valor, the country’s highest honor for combat heroism. She received it in 1957.

“My hope is that even in some small way, others are inspired to do something positive for their country,” Del Din said. “It takes regular people to stand up and fight for what they believe in. That’s what my family did back then, and that’s what we need to ensure a brighter future.”

After the war, Del Din earned a scholarship to study in the U.S. and completed a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania before returning to Italy to teach middle school. She continues to serve as honorary president of the National Association of Italian Paratroopers.

“It was my country and my brotherhood that liberated us,” she said. “I am free; that is the point.”

Though the U.S. Army’s first official parachute jump came less than five years before Del Din’s feat, it would be almost three decades before American female soldiers were allowed to match her.

In 1973, Joyce Kutsch and Rita Johnson became the first women to graduate from the Army’s Airborne School at Fort Benning, Ga.

Six years earlier, French journalist Catherine Leroy became notable for parachuting into Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade during Operation Junction City.

That unit has been primarily based at Caserma Del Din since 2013. Paola Del Din attended its opening ceremony and has visited for other events since.