Fruits of Peace
Two families bound by a single event, whose paths cross decades later in a search for truth, healing, and reconciliation.
A six-part docuseries chronicling the intertwined journeys of two families forever changed by the Vietnam War. After Col. Wilmer “Newk” Grubb is shot down in 1966, his wife Evelyn transforms from a grieving mother into a national voice for POW/MIA families. Fifty years later, Du Pham, a former North Vietnamese officer involved in the Newk’s capture, embarks on his own journey of healing, ultimately connecting with the Grubb family to uncover long-buried truths. What begins as a search for answers becomes a profound act of reconciliation across time, distance, and former battle lines.
Series Trailer (July 2026)
The Story...
The cost of a plane ticket to the United States was equivalent to the annual salary of an average Vietnamese. It is a price Du Pham gladly pays to visit a brother and a country he once fought against during the Vietnam War. For Du, the journey is about more than reconnecting with family. It is an opportunity to make peace with another former enemy—United States Air Force pilot Wilmer Newlin "Newk" Grubb, who was shot down and captured by Du's North Vietnamese anti-aircraft unit in 1966. But after arriving in rural Pennsylvania to find him, Du discovers a heartbreaking truth: although most American prisoners of war returned home in 1973, Newk did not.
Half a world away and decades earlier, Newk's wife, Evelyn Grubb, was beginning a journey of her own. At a time when it was uncommon for women to occupy positions of national influence, Evelyn transformed unimaginable personal loss into determined public advocacy. Alongside other military wives, she stepped into the political and military arena, demanding accountability from government leaders and refusing to let America's missing prisoners of war be forgotten.
Evelyn Grubb and members of the National League of Families present an early version of the POW/MIA Flag to Def. Sec. Laird.
Separated by geography, ideology, and time, Du and Evelyn unknowingly spend decades pursuing the same truth from opposite sides of the Vietnam War. One searches to understand the fate of the man he captured; the other refuses to stop searching for the husband she lost. After Evelyn's passing, her four sons inherit that lifelong quest, carrying forward the search she began and retracing their father's final mission. Their journey ultimately converges with Du's, transforming a decades-old search for answers into an extraordinary story of remembrance, reconciliation, and the enduring power of our shared humanity.
Recognizing the parallels between his own family’s struggles and those of Col. Grubb’s family, Du Pham realizes first hand the importance that lasting information has for loved ones and how sharing can be a pathway to healing. Du Pham writes a letter to the Grubb family making himself available to provide any information, and invites the four Grubb sons, Jeff, Roland, Stephen, and Roy to visit Viet Nam to walk in their father’s footsteps with those that were involved with the events of that that day in 1966.
Upon receiving Du Pham’s letter, the Grubb sons begin to accept that the information void which has weighed on them throughout the past 50 years is being thrust to the forefront of their present day lives. It drudges up the pains from the past. It does offer, however, an insight into a period of their lives that has always been a mystery.
Both parties feel that if they can find a way for the families to deal with one another so too can the peoples of the two countries.
The four Grubb sons accept Du Pham’s invitation.
Executive Producers: Michael Chiplock, Kevyn Settle
Co-Producer: Shirine Hossaini
Contributing Producers: Rachel Miner, Carlin Camp O’Brien, Nhat Bahn
Writers: Michael Chiplock, Kevyn Settle
Director: Kevyn Settle
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Fruits of Peace - Film Marketing Package
(link to a separate page for additional information)
The original Fruits of Peace feature documentary chronicled the decades-long search that culminated in an extraordinary invitation from former North Vietnamese officer Du Pham for the Grubb sons to visit Vietnam. As those relationships deepened over the years, new experiences, discoveries, and moments of reconciliation emerged that transformed the scope of the story itself.
Rather than simply extending the original film, the six-part documentary series reimagines it. The series weaves the historical journey of Evelyn Grubb's advocacy together with the present-day experiences of the Grubb sons in Vietnam, allowing two timelines separated by fifty years to unfold as one continuous narrative. The result is not an expanded version of the feature, but a richer and more complete telling of the story, revealing how the search for truth ultimately became a journey of reconciliation.
Part 1 film:
Winner
Joe Cantwell Award for Excellence in Documentary Filmmaking, Alexandria Film Festival
Best Domestic Documentary, Cobb International Film Festival
Silver Remi for Historical Documentary Filmmaking, 54th WorldFest Houston Int’l Film Festival
Excellence Award in Human Spirit, Docs withouth Borders Film Festival
Merit Award, Impact Docs Film Festival
Finalist Documentary Feature, Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival
Festival Screenings
Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
Sainte Augustine Film Festival
Orlando Film Festival
(C) 2026 Son Trach Film LLC