Dustin and his family moved to Bullhead City, AZ, his freshman year of high school. He graduated from Mohave High School in Bullhead City in 2006 where he played football for four years.

After graduation from high school, he joined the U.S. Navy. A medic, Dustin deployed to Afghanistan on 1 April 2008.

Hospitalman Dustin Kelby Burnett was assigned to First Marine Division Detachment, Twentynine Palms, CA. He died on 20 June 2008 while conducting combat operations in Farah Province, Afghanistan, when the vehicle he was traveling in hit an explosive device on the road.

HN Burnett had been in Afghanistan less than three months.

Burial

Hospitalman Dustin Kelby Burnett is buried at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, Riverside County, CA, in Section 63B, Site 667.