Thanks for weighing in on this, Ed. I started writing this tonight, then got a call from the friend from whom the Luger came.
I believe the family of the bring back vet, that the pistol was in a box in his closet virtually from the end of the war until it got to my friend's gun safe five years ago and that it had no work done on it in that time frame.
My first thought upon seeing the pistol, even though it was reported to have been an officer's pistol during WWII, was that it must have sat out much or all of the war in a drawer or a ceremonial box given the condition it was in.
I typed most of that above, and then got the call. The younger of the vet's sons confirmed to the friend that sold me the gun that dad had taken the it from the body of a dead officer after a firefight. He also said there was a movie made about dad's unit, which he said was called the devil's brigade.
Dad's name was Bennie Buckelew. A short search of the devil's brigade by its proper name as the First Special Service Force lead to the roster at:
http://www.firstspecialserviceforce....SSF_Roster.doc
And there on the roster was Bennie.