Over the weekend I pulled the bulkhead fitting through, and checked the wires for a good 6" in either direction of where it passes through the trunk. Aside from some road grime accumulated in the plastic conduit, the wires looked fine. No breaks, exposed wires, obvious corrosion, etc. I cleaned it out where I was checking, and taped the conduit back in place, and plugged one of the bulbs back in, and it was working fine, so I plugged the other side in, and they were both acting like they were supposed to.
The only other thing I found throughout my efforts, was that there was water that had leaked in somewhere and accumulated under the carpet in the passenger side rear. I've already done the fix for water accumulating in the front, and that carpet was dry, so there's another issue to track down, but I wonder if water accumulating where those wires all run through the inside of the body are part of the reverse light issue, and it only stopped because I got the water out? I also checked the wire loom there and didn't see anything, but it's possible I just missed it.
