Parse dynamic data in flash

What I want is the user to input text, like “Hello my name is Rick” then have flash process the field, and generate images based on each individual character that was given.

Basically, each letter would be turned into an image; a = imageOne_mc, b = imageTwo_mc etc.

I know how to capture data from text fields and manipulate it, but I don’t know how to break the data up into individual characters, and assign values to them in an effective and efficient manor.

Any ideas or suggestions?