After digesting the wiring drawings, it dawned on me I was chasing a red herring. The relevant drawings from gmupfitters 2008_LD_ElectricalPickupsChassisCabs, Section D page number and drawing sheet number:
D-343 Power Distribution drawing 12 of 26
PTR = Power Train Relay is activated by the ECM to power the UBEC_PTR busbar.
Relay-PWR/TRN relay_spst 004, feeds UBEC_PTR, with multiple fused circuits for Engine Controls Glow Plug Module, Fuel systems Fuel Heater, 2x O2 Sens/Htr, and... that bus bar continues to next drawing.
D-344 Power Distribution drawing 13 of 26
DSL-ECM, 25 A minifuse, feeds 3x wires to Engine Controls ECM Page-Dsl-1, ECM_PTR 2, 3, 4
The D-344 drawing has the 25 A fuse I thought was dead, but it was because I was testing power to fuses with the ECM unplugged. When testing with either (of two I have) ECM's plugged in, PTR is energized immediately by the ECM. Neither ECM can talk to the DLC under the dash, but perhaps one or both of them are still viable ECMs. Moving on to ohm checking the GMLAN wires and connections between the ECM and DLC next.