Epic show. I miss title sequences like this.
I was not yet 5 when MASH premiered, so I obviously didn't watch from the start. I probably started watching after the BJ/Trapper, Winchester/Burns and Potter/Blake changes (probably why I prefer the later episodes to the earlier ones. I can remember my mother explaining a lot things, like why Klinger wore women's clothes. I also remember my brother, who served in Vietnam, complaining about how the helicopters used in the opening were from the Vietnam era, not the Korea era.
I'm pretty sure I knew Blake had died before I saw the episode. Super powerful. I distinctly recall watching the finale: a TWO AND A HALF hour episode of a network show that aired in what was basically mid-season, February 28, 1983. I was a sophomore in high school. It's still the most watched non-sports program in television history. Apparently, there are stories to the effect that the plumbing systems in some parts of New York City broke down because so many people waited until the end of the show to use the toilet.