"Homeland"

I know that terms we hear every day have different connotations to different people. The term "homeland" is set in my brain to the time I first heard it during WWII as applied to Nazi Germany. I have visited Germany once. It's a beautiful country and people who are very dear to me have been born there and lived there. I would love to go again in a peaceful time which may not be in my lifetime (what's left of it.) Germany is a beautiful country and like other things in this world, it became known as the birthplace of an evil idea. So now when I hear people talking about the United States as "homeland," it is not a pleasant feeling. Why do ideas stay in the brain that relate to things that are no longer pertinent? It could be worse. They could be talking about the USA as "The Fatherland."