[2] In July 1989, Burnett met his future wife, Deena, in Atlanta, where she had just completed flight attendant training for Delta Air Lines.

[8] They married in April 1992[6][9] and had three daughters,[10] and lived in San Ramon, California,[11] where Deena worked as a stay-at-home mother,[6] beginning when she first became pregnant in 1995.

[9] Thomas Burnett had attended mass daily in the year prior to the September 11 attacks, attempting to address a sense of foreboding which he had expressed to his wife.

On September 11, 2001, Burnett boarded United Airlines Flight 93, returning home to San Ramon, after a business trip.

[17] Upon learning of the situation, Deena, a former flight attendant, recalled her training and urged Burnett to sit quietly and not draw attention to himself.

"[17][19][11] Burnett and several other passengers stormed the cockpit, foiling the hijackers' plan to crash the plane into the White House or Capitol Building.

At Jefferson High School, Burnett's former teammates created a memorial to honor him situated between two football practice fields.

A white oak tree was planted in front of Saint Edward's Catholic Church in Bloomington, where Burnett was confirmed, and where his funeral was held.

A large fieldstone in front of the tree is inscribed with the passage from the Book of John 15:13: "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends".

[4] In 2004, Burnett's biological daughter Mariah Mills turned 19 and became legally entitled to access information about her birth parents.

[26] In mid-2002, Deena Burnett and her daughters moved from San Ramon back to Little Rock, Arkansas, near where she grew up and where her family still lives.

Fighting Back recounts the difficulties in getting the FBI to release cockpit voice recorder tapes from United 93 to the public, and includes Deena's thoughts on the nature of heroism.

[11] In February 2003, the California State Assembly renamed the Fostoria Way overcrossing over Interstate 680 in San Ramon the Thomas E. Burnett Jr. Memorial Bridge in his honor.

[30] His mother, Beverly Burnett thanked and praised the Navy SEALs and echoed Deena's words of having more closure after bin Laden's killing.

[31] On September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the attacks, the Bloomington Crime Prevention Association sponsored the first annual Tom Burnett Jr.