Pyongyang, North Korea (CNN) -- The last time Thomas Hudner was in North Korea, he was fighting for his life. On Sunday, more than six decades later, he paid his respects to the ruler who led that fight against him and his fellow Americans. Hudner, a retired U.S. Navy captain, is leading a delegation to search for the remains of Ensign Jesse Brown, the Navy's first African-American aviator. Hudner and fellow Korean War veteran Richard Bonelli went to Pyongyang's Palace of the Sun -- the most hallowed site in North Korea -- on Sunday. Following protocol, each man stopped and bowed before the glass caskets of Kim Il Sung, North Korea's founder, and his son Kim Jong Il, who ruled for 18 years following his father's 1994 death.
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Retired Capt. Thomas Hudner received the Medal of Honor in the Korean War
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He returned to North Korea to search for the remains of Navy aviator Jesse Brown
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North Koreans tell Hudner and another veteran the country wants to help with search
The visit comes ahead of the 60th anniversary of the armistice that ended three years of fighting in @placeholder on Saturday.