Somewhere back in the 1970s, I was living on a commune in Northern California, and we had 21 families that all came from Berkeley.

The Vietnam War was winding down, and the U.S. was abandoning local Asians who had supported us there. Refugee camps overflowed.

Our commune was large: 2 square miles with a 100-year-old ranch house, barns and sheds. We only used the ranch house for meetings, so we thought we could take some refugees.

We applied for a couple, but the voice on the phone said they had a desperate family of 12 who had been in the camps for three years. I immediately thought: “No!” but the voice in my head said, “in as much as you have done it to the least of these my brothers and sisters, you have done it unto me.” I’m not religious, but the statement rings true.

We could not do this alone. To our amazement, the whole valley turned out in support. Folks we had never met volunteered with language lessons, jobs and transportation. Eventually we took 19 refugees. It’s hard to say no when you find out just how tragic the circumstances are.

Many of those who are refugees from Asia and the Middle East are entrepreneurial; they form small businesses that employ others, including Americans. This really helped in our situation. Our refugees eventually learned to support themselves with shops, restaurants and manual labor; their children have gone to college and are part of American culture.

Is such a thing possible on Vashon?

— Lawrence Dean