So you are about 15 years old, now I understand!
Don't trust only your history teachers in the high school, because I know that history lessons in the USA process mostly the history of your own country.
I recommend that you read something from the common WW II history for example from this common WW II link:
http://www.teacheroz.com/WWIIAirSea.htmThis is Brittish (BBC) link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/wwtwo/index.shtmlHere's a very good link to Finnish Air Force pages:
http://www.sci.fi/~ambush/faf/links.htmlThis is Ilmari Juutilainen, Finnish top scoring ace:
http://www.sci.fi/~fta/finace01.htmAnd to Hans Wind's story, he was our second top scoring ace:
http://www.saunalahti.fi/~fta/finace02.htmThen if you are more interested, read good books telling the Axis, here's couple:
GERMANY:
Adolf Galland: Die Erste und die Letzten (something like "The First and The Last" in english)
JAPANESE:
Saburo Sakai: Samurai
FINNISH:
Ilmari Juutilainen: Double Fighter Knight
Kari Stenman: Finnish Aces of World War 2
And from this link there's more Axis books:
http://www.aviation-booklist.com/axispilots.htmlAfter you have read these books you maybe understand better that the Axis pilots were mostly non-political persons: They only fought for their Father's land.
Have a nice time with these tips!;)