By JEFF KAROUB, AP Business Writer

DETROIT, June 1, 2009 (AP): General Motors Corp. hopes for a short, surgical and successful bankruptcy. But for people across the country whose lives are intertwined with the automaker, recovery will be far harder and messier than what appears on the balance sheet.

The once-mighty corporate giant whose brands were household names and plants the lifeblood of many U.S. communities filed its Chapter 11 petition in New York Monday. It marks the fourth-largest bankruptcy in U.S. history and the largest for an industrial company.

GM also revealed Monday that it will permanently close nine more plants and idle three others.

The closing of a metal stamping plant near Mansfield, Ohio, will force the city to cut jobs because it will lose one of its biggest employers and water customers. The plant's roughly 1,200 workers make parts for many of GM's slow-selling trucks and sport utility vehicles.