Every year, French caretakers spend hours preparing the grave markers at the American cemetery in Normandy — nearly 10,000 of them.

In the United States, citizens spend Memorial Day remembering and honoring the service members who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms and liberties the rest of us enjoy – but for those who never made it home, some of the host nations do what they can to honor the Americans who fell defending them.

In Normandy, for example, they routinely bring sand from D-Day’s most brutal landing site — Omaha Beach — and use it to darken the names and dates inscribed in the otherwise plain white marble crosses that cover the landscape.

Every #MemorialDay, I share this video.

French caretakers take the sand from Omaha Beach in Normandy and scrub them into the letters to give them the brown/gold coloring.

They do this for all 9,386 soldiers who died.

France also gave us this land as American soil. pic.twitter.com/TfE6gFD6lD

— Danny Deraney (@DannyDeraney) May 29, 2023

Traditionally, they do the sand-scrubbing just before the anniversary of the D-Day invasion – but for Memorial Day, they mark each grave with both an American flag and a French flag. The land where those soldiers were buried may be located in France, but it is considered American soil.

#HonorThem 🇺🇸#MemorialDay provides us the opportunity to honor the heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.

Yesterday, #SkySoldiers participated in a Memorial Day remembrance ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial 🇫🇷 to honor the fallen 🪖 pic.twitter.com/9aRn3agDLl

— 173rdAirborneBrigade (@173rdAbnBde) May 29, 2023

Other American cemeteries across Europe do the same, among them the Henri-Chapelle American Military Cemetery in Plombieres, Belgium. Memorial Day has been observed at that cemetery – where both American and Belgian flags adorn each marker — since 1945, when both Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley were in attendance.

#MemorialDay 🇺🇸 at the #HenriChapelle #American #Cemetery, the largest #American #cemetery in #Belgium 🇧🇪🇺🇸. 7,987 servicemen are buried here.
The first #MemorialDay ceremony held at the #cemetery was on 30 May 1945 in the presence of Generals #DwighDEisenhower and #OmarBradley pic.twitter.com/nr7O78UbsN

— Nicole Conroth 🇧🇪🇪🇺🇦🇹🎶💖 (@ConrothN) May 29, 2023

American flags and the flag of the Netherlands mark each grave at the Netherlands American Cemetery in the village of Margraten.

Memorial day at the Margraten American Cemetery in the Netherlands. pic.twitter.com/RMbFaKAFTa

— The Battlefield Explorer (@battlefieldexpl) May 28, 2023

US Memorial Day commemoration at the Netherlands American Cemetery with out @WWIImuseum Easy Company Tour yesterday. A wonderful and impressive experience for the museum’s guests. #ww2travel #educationaltravel #easycompany #bandofbrothers pic.twitter.com/GS6L360NoE

— Edwin Popken (@edwinpopken) May 29, 2023

The Italian flag sits alongside the American flag at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Nettuno.

Ambassador Donnelly was honored to speak at the Memorial Day Commemoration Ceremony today at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Nettuno. pic.twitter.com/vukvnDOTPf

— U.S. in Holy See (@USinHolySee) May 27, 2023

The Tunisian flag flies next to the American flag at the North Africa American Cemetery in Tunisia.

MG Todd Wasmund joined Commisioner Kemp, @usabmc, and Ambassador Joey Hood, @usembassytunis for a special #MemorialDay ceremony at the North Africa American Cemetery in Tunisia marking the 80th anniversary of the end of combat in Tunisia during #WWII 🇺🇲@DeptofDefense @USMCFEA pic.twitter.com/gIXkjBd2Cq

— U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (@SETAF_Africa) May 29, 2023

At the American Cemetery in Manila, Filipino flags fly alongside the Stars and Stripes.

#Philippines 🇵🇭

American Cemetery in Manila.
Filipino and American flags at every grave. #MemorialDay@usabmc @USAmbPH pic.twitter.com/NhUx1NIZf3

— 🚶🏻Curtis S. Chin (@CurtisSChin) May 29, 2023

House Democrats on Monday appeared to defend the FBI less than 24 hours before the bureau is scheduled to turn over a key document linking President Joe Biden to an alleged $5 million foreign national bribery scheme.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) sent a letter to Wray last week revealing more specific terms for the bureau to find a particular FD-1023 form he demanded in a subpoena with a deadline that passed two weeks ago. Comer gave Wray until May 30 to turn over the record or could otherwise face contempt of Congress if he fails to comply with the subpoena.

Oversight Democrat Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told Punchbowl News that his colleagues see Comer’s threats as “a ludicrously overblown response.”

“It just sounds preposterous to me that you will hold the FBI director in contempt over a tip sheet that they think someone submitted to the FBI,” Raskin told the outlet. “[Comer is] making a mountain out of something that is not even a molehill.”

Senior Virginia Democrat Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) on the committee blamed the Republican’s move to investigate the bureau on former President Donald Trump.

“It’s part of the assault on the FBI that the Republicans have launched, fueled by Trump’s hatred of the FBI,” Connolly told the outlet.

Comer said whistleblower disclosures led him and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to believe the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI have an unclassified FD-1023 form describing the alleged scheme involving the elder Biden, dating back to his time as vice president and a foreign national.

“These terms relate to the date on the FD-1023 form and its reference to the amount of money the foreign national allegedly paid to receive the desired policy outcome,” he wrote.

The newly revealed date lands on the calendar about two weeks after Ukrainian officials announced there had been a $5 million bribe aimed at ending an investigation into the founder of Burisma Holdings, the same Ukrainian gas company at which Biden’s son, Hunter, served on the board for several years.

The FBI, which says such a form is used to record claims from confidential human sources, has cautioned against disclosing unverified information from informants.

“The FBI’s mission is to protect the American people,” the FBI told reporters last week. “Releasing confidential source information could potentially jeopardize investigations and put lives at risk. The FBI remains committed to cooperating with Congress’s oversight requests on this matter and others as we always have.”

Comer insisted the oversight panel does not seek the identity of the confidential human source who may have provided the Biden-related allegations.

“Furthermore, there are reasonable accommodations that would alleviate the FBI’s concerns about exposing CHS (confidential human source) information, including appropriate redactions,” he wrote.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) told Breitbart News on Thursday Republican committee members view the FBI’s lack of cooperation differently.

“I think it’s clear and obvious that the DOJ, the FBI, Christopher Wray, Merrick Garland, and many others are protecting the Bidens,” Greene told the outlet. “It has direct evidence of Joe Biden himself getting paid from a foreign national for foreign policy decisions,” she said. “So, it’s a real pay-to-play scheme when Joe Biden was Vice President.”

Daniel Chaitin contributed to this report.