Military Vehicle Repair: No power to 1008, vacuum controller, mechanical abilities

Question
i have a 1986 chevy 1008  diesel military truck. The other day the front battery grounded out against the battery holder, now it has no power anywhere,no lights,wipers, won't turn over nothing. When we hooked up a slave cable to it it would turn over real good, but wouldn't try to fire up.I am very limited on my mechanical abilities, but it seems to me like a fuse of some sort but I couldn't find one.

Answer
I can suggest a couple items to check that might help you. If you are standing in front of the truck looking at the engine. On the left side of the firewall is 2 buss bars with a white plastic cover on them. Loosen the nuts on them and take the covers off. Visually check the wires hooked up to the buus bar for burnt look or feel. Also on the right side of the firewall to the left a the glowplug solenoid there are 3 fuseable links ,hard to tell if you dont know what you are looking for, some are blue some are red look just like an electrical wire. Grab a hold of them and pull a little bit to see if the are really rubbery,brittle,corroded,or burnt in half,you will be able to tell if they are. This is a common problem we have with these trucks. Also another thing you can check is to the right of the vacuum controller(were normally a distributor would be) there is a black wire that has a square connector in the middle of it,in that connector is a little ignition control resistor could be bad(good luck finding one they are discontinued from the dealer and from the military. I hope this helps if not let me know maybe i can get the trouble shooting manual out.